"You are all heroes." - Cherie Kingi hugs firefighter John Duell. Photo / Dean Purcell
"You are all heroes." - Cherie Kingi hugs firefighter John Duell. Photo / Dean Purcell
One of the last things Cherie Kingi remembers from when her house went up in flames is seeing the open front door - and her 3-year-old son running towards the fire.
She chased O'rlandau into the thick smoke and managed to get him into the bathroom and under the shower.
The Hamilton mother could hear her 4-year-old son, Ziah, crying and thought, "What do I do now?"
Ms Kingi would "die" at least twice that day, and is alive to tell her tale only because of the quick thinking, bravery and lifesaving skill of others.
Sadly, O'rlandau did not survive.
On New Year's Day - more than a year later - Ms Kingi met the firefighters who pulled her, unresponsive and clinically dead, from the burning house. They started CPR and got her breathing again before paramedics took over.
She met Hamilton's Red Watch fire crew for the first time since the tragedy to thank them for their efforts. "You are all heroes," she said. "I just want to hug you all."
The Herald was at the emotional reunion as part of a week-long series that starts today, profiling people who have saved a stranger from death or danger. These are people who have put their lives on the line for another or risked their safety to help someone else. Some are paid to do it and don't consider their actions extraordinary, but to those they saved they are heroes, no matter what their job or background. On the morning of November 8, 2014, Ms Kingi was at home with O'rlandau, Ziah and Jahden, 18, when the fire broke out.
Cherie on her son O'rlandau: "I look at it as if I died with my son. I took him to the gates, and then I came back."
Neighbours - including Ms Kingi's cousin George Paekau, who lives next door - spotted the flames and, armed with hoses, smashed fences and windows to rescue the family.
They managed to haul Ziah and Jahden out through a bedroom window, but could not get to Ms Kingi and O'rlandau.
Three crews of firefighters arrived soon after and as some battled inside to quell the inferno, their colleagues Colin Klenner and John Duell located Ms Kingi and her youngest son in the bathroom.
Mr Duell carried O'rlandau and Mr Klenner lifted Ms Kingi outside and, joined by five or so other firefighters, they started CPR.
Afterwards, Ms Kingi spent 12 days in a coma - she was still unconscious when O'rlandau was buried - and was in hospital for a total of six weeks, first at the National Burn Centre at Middlemore, then closer to home at Waikato Hospital.
Before the New Year's Day reunion, Ms Kingi told the Herald she did not know how she could ever thank her rescuers. "I don't even know where to start."
Firefighter Paul Single was one of those who helped to save her.
"I recall the ambo saying, 'She's gone'," he said at the gathering. "There wasn't much left of you. If it wasn't for that ambo, you probably wouldn't be here today."
At the fire station, Ms Kingi was overwhelmed and moved to tears meeting the crew - and they were equally moved.
