MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Parkway Village family of 10 is struggling to survive just days after a ruptured gas line exploded and leveled their home.
Thursday, Luis Jimenez, Maria Reyes and their 9-year-old son Jason couldn’t do anything but stare at the rubble of their Parkway Village home.
“I lost everything. I don’t know what we do now,” Reyes said. “We need to find a house, but right now we don’t have the money. I don’t know what we do.”
June 8, the house where two adults and eight children lived was destroyed in what could only be called a “freak accident.” A van came off South Perkins and came crashing into the house, rupturing a gas line.
There were precious few moments to get the driver to safety and make a run for it.
“The door was locked. The keys was in the kitchen. My mom go running to get the keys and then she opened the door and then we got out,” Jason said. “It exploded.”
The family’s story of survival and need touched the heart of Jessica Gaines.
“I just happened to be driving, on my way to work, and I drove right by the house,” Gaines said.
Gaines says she later returned, spoke with Luis and Maria and felt compelled to help.
“I didn’t quite know how I was going to do it, but I kind of committed to trying to find a plan and get them some help,” Gaines said.
Gaines started a GoFundMe account with a goal of raising ten thousand dollars for the family. She says she just couldn’t stand “on the sidelines” while the family struggled to survive.
“People tend to hold back, and I just thought, I’m not going to hold back. I’m going to go all in and help this family,” Gaines said.
You can click here to donate to the GoFundMe. For now, the family is staying at a hotel in Southeast Memphis until they decide whether to rebuild or not.
