The couple were left “devastated” after lightning struck their home.
Connie and Rob Turner, both 79, are said to be “devastated” after their three-bedroom home was destroyed by fire in a freak incident on Sunday night (May 26).
The couple were watching TV in their kitchen at around 4.30pm when lightning struck the building with a “horrible bang”. A massive fire then engulfed the building's roof and Rob, who is disabled, had to be rescued by neighbours.
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While firefighters were trying to put out the blaze, the elderly couple lost a fortune they had accumulated over 40 years, and property damage is estimated to exceed £200,000.
Connie's daughter, Caroline Moore, 54, said the scene was like something out of a disaster movie.
She said: “It felt like I was going onto a movie set. I jumped out of the car, left the engine running, the door open and ran to the ambulance. At this point I had no idea what to expect.”
“They were heartbroken. They were both crying. My stepfather is disabled so a neighbour managed to get him out. And my mum's blood pressure was over 200. It was really devastating to see them like that.”
Caroline said the pair were taken to hospital where they were diagnosed with no physical injuries and given accommodation in an apartment on a nearby farm, but she said the horrific incident in Holme-on-Spalding Moor, East Yorkshire, had left them “emotionally scarred”.
Caroline added: “One minute they're happy and the next they're depressed thinking about what they've lost – a lifetime's worth of memories.”
“They weren't injured and were released the next day, but they are psychologically scarred and it's absolutely horrifying.”
“It's unbelievable. We've lost everything. We have nothing left,” Connie said of the strike in her home where she has lived since the early '80s.
Caroline, also from Holme-on-Spalding Moor, said she and Connie, a retired hairdresser, and Rob, a former window cleaner, had been relaxing together when they were struck by lightning.
She said the sky suddenly went dark and a thunderstorm approached the picturesque Yorkshire village, bringing hail and heavy rain.
Caroline said: “It was tea time on Sunday and we think the earthquake happened at about 4.30pm. We were sitting in the kitchen watching TV when suddenly we heard a loud noise. It was completely dark and then it started to rain heavily and there was hail.”
“I don't think they fully realised what it was, just a really scary bang. My mum, thank goodness, thought it was the neighbour's house so she ran outside and looked at the neighbour's house and realised it was her house.”
“Smoke started coming down the stairs and through the hallway. We think it hit the roof of the back bedroom, at least, that's our guess.”
“But it was completely gone. For lightning to travel, it needs to find an exit point. It traveled all over the house.”
Caroline said she has already spoken to the couple's home insurance company, who thankfully have said they will cover damage to the house.
But she is still not sure whether the building will need to be rebuilt from the ground up, a job she estimates could cost in excess of £200,000.
She said: “We don't know what will actually happen, but they have said they are covered by insurance and alternative accommodation is covered so when a suitable location is found they will be moved there.”
“It will no doubt be several hundred thousand pounds.”
Local supporters have since rallied behind the couple after learning of the strike, and they have set up a donations page to help with costs, which has raised just under £6,000 so far.
