Devastated mum lost job, gave birth before flooded flat caught fire on Xmas Eve

A mum has told how she was made redundant, went into labour and suffered a flooded flat all in the space of a few months.

Single mum Carly Breslin was told about her redundancy after being employed by the same company for 20 years, and then, seven months later, her flat flooded due to heavy rainfall, which left her and her five children homeless.

And, while they were waiting to be rehoused, their old flat caught fire on Christmas Eve, destroying the little they had left along with the presents.

A GoFundMe page to help pay for the repairs to the home has so far raised £1,623 of a £5,000 total reports SWNS.

Ms Breslin, a former art director for Tony and Guy said: “I can't tell you how stressed I've been – too much has happened that I can't begin to make sense of it all, it's just been terrible.

“In July, we had the flash floods and there must have been a lot of rain which was just building up on the roof.

“It started off trickling down one of the light fittings and it took about three weeks for it to be pouring out of everywhere.

“We were told by surveyors that it was unsafe to live there any more, so the council put us in a hotel and at first I was like 'oh my god, I can't live like that, I have babies to look after' and at that time I thought even a night would be too much.

“But we've been there for six months now.”

The family have been living two rooms at the hotel in Angel, just a mile away from their family home.

Her mum Tracie said that the family has had a “very challenging” time, especially in the run up to Christmas.

Ms Breslin added: “Because my kids still believe in Santa, I decided to hide their presents in the flat because I wanted them to be surprised and have a nice day.

“The presents had been ruined by the fire, and of the ones we managed to save, they smelt of smoke and were covered in black soot.

“My little girl said that 'Father Christmas had gone down lots of chimneys' because she could smell the smoke, so I went with that story because I didn't want to worry them.”

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