Hi, my name is Lisa.

 

It feels so strange for me to reach out for help as I am generally shy and believe that my partner and I can manage independently. However, after much reflection, I didn't realise how serious the situation was and how much help we might need until now. Unfortunately, the start 2022 has not been great for us. At the start of the year, my family lost our beloved dog of 15 years due to cancer after a biopsy that never eventually healed, and we had to make a difficult decision to end her suffering. Following that, my partner's grandma decided it was time for her to go and made a brave decision to stop all treatment after many years. She had end-stage renal failure and required dialysis 3 times a week. She was bed-bound, in constant pain and had little to no quality of life. And now, the floods.

 

We are a young couple who live in the flood-devastated suburb of Rocklea. In the early hours of Saturday morning, we woke to the floodwaters already 1/4 of the way up our front stairs of a highset house that had been raised above the 2011 height. Within an hour, it was lapping at the meter box. We called SES for evacuation, but after 2 hours, we still had no idea when they would arrive. We needed to get out, with the water rising quickly and unsure if the SES would allow us to bring our beloved pets of 6 cats and 2 dogs, we decided to act on our own. With a few precious belongings, we left through chest height water. Lucky we did as the water completely engulfed the 2nd level. We have lost all our possessions and I know some people think we are crazy for getting all the pets out, but they are our family.

 

We are one of the lucky ones to currently have a roof over our heads, but the place we are at is an empty house. We are struggling financially with what we have lost and need to replace even just the bare necessities and as my partner is a casual worker if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid. We are hoping through this GoFundMe page to raise a little bit of money to help get simple basic essential things and we understand we are not the only ones going through this traumatic time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

We hope we will be able to eventually return and rebuild our home.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

Lisa.