Ian Barnard Hero Fire Fighter’s Fundraiser
South Africa has been devastated recently by out of control fires raging across the country, fuelled by storms and spreading at up to an unbelievable 100km/h.
The damage caused has been immense, lives lost, properties burnt to the ground and communities shaken to their very core. Members of the Barnard family live in some of the worst affected areas, Knysna and Plett.
Ian Barnard, is a volunteer firefighter and father of two young children, Skyla (3) and Jayden (6), who share the same birthday – 7th June. On that day this year, the fire reached Knysna, and so Ian was out trying to protect the public with his friend and fellow volunteer, Bradley Richards. They got into serious trouble. In a heroic attempt to save his friend’s life, Ian took off his own protective gear to throw over Brad and dragged him away from the fire. This resulted in third degree burns to his face and hands, serious enough to require treatment in the ICU for a number of days. Brad’s injuries were even more severe and tragically, he lost his fight a few days later despite doctors best efforts to save his life.
The children’s grandparents, Lal and Frank, saw their home burnt to the ground. They had time to save themselves and their pets, mercifully, but have lost everything else. Rebuilding a normal life for the children as quickly as possible is their absolute priority.
On Monday 12th June, Ian had the first skin graft on his right hand. Doctors took that opportunity to scrape and clean his face and ears to allow for further assessment of those areas this Wednesday. More surgery is planned for next week. The road to recovery will be a long and uncertain one. His wife Stephanie will be at his side the whole way.
Plett Fire Department have kindly agreed to pay for Ian’s medical bills, something they can’t guarantee for volunteers. However, as a young family they had no insurance against any loss of earnings due to an accident such as this.
Barnard’s family is trying desperately to raise some funds, mainly so that this young family will not have to worry about financial loss while Ian recovers, and also to allow other relatives to get basic furniture and clothes to begin rebuilding their lives. Ian may not be able to work for some time, so relieving that pressure will allow him to concentrate fully on his recovery. Already we have been overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers.
We would really appreciate if you would share the page and spread the word – every share so far has been worth more than £1 somewhere down the line, so it really does help.
Thank you for helping and sharing.