Hello everyone, my name is Amanda, I am Matthew Burns girlfriend. We are creating this GoFund me to help out Matt's Aunt Wanda Souther and her family who all almost lost their lives but thankfully survived but they did unfortunately lose literally EVERYTHING they owned and a beloved pet during the horrific flash floods that ripped through the North Carolina mountains during Hurricane Helene. Although Aunt Wanda wanted to tell her story of what happened the day that her and her family lost everything however, I would also like to give a small bit of insight to the type of woman she is and why we are reaching out to friends and family during this time to help out someone who deserves to be helped the most!!

Wanda is someone who has continuously dropped everything to help everyone and anyone in need. Wanda has repeatedly gone through unimaginable hard times and always takes on the load of the world's problems along with her own with a smile on her face knowing and a what else can I do for you attitude, knowing she did everything in her power to help! Wanda grew up in a family who knew hard times and was taught from an early age that you work very hard for any little bit they had but she was also taught that they were always abundantly rich in love and spreading kindness which Wanda has embodied in everyway! All on her own, Wanda worked at a local manufacturing plant for the past 30 years while raising her son, rescue pets, and taking care of her loving husband Bill who passed away far too early from his battle with cancer. As a heartbroken widower, Wanda knew that she had to push through the heartache and that's exactly what she did when she also took on the responsibility of becoming head of household, she became sole caretaker of her own son, both of her twin granddaughters from birth to their current age of 23 years old, rescued multiple dogs and cats from terribly abusive situations and helped to take care of her other siblings and their children/grandchildren as well as played a huge role in taking care of her elderly disabled Veteran parents.

In March 2020, Wanda unexpectedly lost her father, a few months later her beloved rescue dog suffered a heart attack and passed away in her arms then a short 11 months after losing her father she lost her mother from COVID in February 2021, the lost of both parents in such a short period of time hit the entire family extremely hard and life already seemed unbearable.

Shortly after the loss of both parents, Wanda's own life was at stake when she was coming home from the post office in broad daylight in late 2021, she was hit head on by a large pickup truck with a fully loaded utility trailer attached who unexpectedly entered her side of the road. Unfortunately the person who hit her head on was uninsured therefore, Wanda has has to take on the financial burden of hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills along with the loss of her job. Wanda was immediately rushed to the hospital where she spent a total of 21 days between ICU and regular hospital admission. She underwent 3 surgeries and received 3 quarts of blood to save her life and her legs. Wanda had to have 3 plates, 9 pins, and an 18 inch rod implanted in her body just to ever have the chance of walking ever again. She is now disabled due to someone else's negligence and still suffers with the mental, physical and financial pain form this accident everyday. As Aunt Wanda always does, she still wakes up everyday and thanks god for being alive and the things she does have in her life and the ability to try to recover and live another day to help an animal or person in need.

Now in 2024 after many other struggles and triumphs, Wanda's oldest brother Tim unexpectedly passed away in the beginning of February. Tim was the sole provider for his wife, 3 children and 3 grandchildren. Wanda once again took on the physical and financial responsibility of taking in 2 of the 3 grandchildren after her brother's passing. Wanda once again pushed through and continued to care and recover herself, her grandchildren, and her brothers grandchildren, and her rescue pets all on her own. Then tragedy struck once again when the mountains of North Carolina were impacted by hurricane Helene more than anyone could have ever predicted and this time Wanda unfortunately lost it all. Barely escaping with her life and the lives of the ones she cared for.

Please read below Wanda's personal story of the day Hurricane Helene hit her home in Ednyville, North Carolina:

"Hi my name is Wanda Souther,

I almost lost my life for the 2nd time when hurricane Helene hit. I have been caring for my brother, who passed away in February, grandkids for about a month. We thought we were completely prepared for this storm but no one was prepared for what has happened. We were sleeping the morning the hurricane hit but were woken up to the sound of a huge crash like the ceiling was about to fall in but then we realized it was flash flooding from a small nearby stream and trees/debris smashing up against the house, so we called for help at 5:45am.......the water started rushing in our house at 6am. I was responsible for my brother's 2 grandkids ages 10 & 8, 2 dogs, and 3 rescue kittens I have been caring for and my own daughter (twin granddaughter) who is 23 . My daughter and I can swim but not the kids, so to increase everyone's ability to survive, I opened the gate on the cage I had my cats in hoping they would escape before the water rose too high. I knew I couldn't take care of everyone, this broke my heart because we felt the water rush so hard that the whole house was ripped from the ground and we were being drug through our yard while inside of our house. The water was coming in so fast I had to find a place for us to stand on because I am disabled and I had the 2 kids and1 dog and my daughter who is very small in size had her 70 pound dog. In the mean time we had called for help at 5:45 am and they couldn't get to us because of fallen trees. I put the 2 kids and one of the dogs on the washing machine. I then went to help my daughters with her dog to get over to us on higher ground but the water was so high it scared my daughter's dog and he took off so she went after him across the house. So now I'm alone with the 2 kids and 1 dog and I can't see my daughter, her dog or my 3 cats. I had been praying for help from God because I was going under over and over trying to protect the kids and dog. My daughter got her dog and made to the China cabinet but she has grandma seizures and she was so scared she was having one also I could hear her but not see her. I'm saving 2 children that were not mine and couldn't get to my daughter. She only had her face out of the water. In the mean time God must have told me to take my head and bust the ceiling open and I did and I started digging out insulation and stuff. Made a hole big enough for the 8 year old and the dog . Don't ask me how I got them up there but I did .The water is raising and I dig some more to get the 10 year old in but he and I had been praying praying and he wouldn't leave me because if we were going to heaven he wanted to go with me. It was getting darker and darker in the house and my daughter was talking saying she needed to touch me but I couldn't kick a hole in the wall with the water . I put Mason's (10 year old) head up in the hole I made for his sister and held on to him and we all just started praying and saying our I love you . Then Mason screamed the water going down God's answering our prays . Brittnie (23) was crying because she couldn't touch me but it was going down and then we heard from the fire fighters 4 1/2 hours later we were saved . Brittnie had broke the kitchen window and we were getting out. We only had the muddy stinky clothes on our backs but we were safe and together. Thank you God so much."

Wanda was able to get back out the the property and access the damages and the property is a total loss Wanda, the 2 kids, Brittnie (23), and 2 dogs made it out together with only the muddy clothes on their backs. This family lost a full home of memories and personal items, 4 vehicles, a barn, tons of yard damage, irreplaceable photographs, one kitten, and so much more. Wanda was able to have family help her dig through the four feet deep of mud inside her home to find her husband's ashes and 1 of the cats were found up in the attic of the hole Wanda busted out for the kids..... by the grace of god a 2nd kitten reappeared a month after the storm, the 3rd has not been found yet.

Now more than ever I feel like Wanda's story deserves to be heard by our friends and family of the community who would be willing to help her out in any way possible. If you would like to donate gift cards for meals, household or clothing gift cards, new clothes, toys, or personal/household items, or any land clearing/construction/handyman services instead of a financial contribution please contact myself or Wanda directly to coordinate. Any and all donations are truly appreciated!