Mansfield Wildlife Rescue owner 'overwhelmed' by community support after devastating fire at her Mansfield Woodhouse home

Cheryl Martins, aged 53, received a message from an employee at Park Hall Veterinary Clinic on May 18, at about 7pm, letting her know the fire alarm was going off at her home in Brown Avenue, Mansfield Woodhouse.

Cheryl said: "I’ve got a cockatoo and he makes phone noises and alarm noises so I wondered if it was the bird making the noise.

"But luckily I didn’t brush it off and decided to go and check the house.

"When I got back to the house I could hear the alarm and I knew it wasn’t the bird so I rushed into the house and saw it was dark so switched the light on in the hallway and there was grey smoke.

"I opened the living room door and it was just black smoke. I opened the windows as I wanted to try and let the smoke out and then I went into my kitchen which was where the fire was but it had burnt out by then. I didn’t see any flames, it was just thick black smoke.

"I dashed through the kitchen to open the back door to let the smoke out and then my thoughts went to my dogs as they were in the kitchen.

"They were lay in their beds and I pulled them out so I could check them over. I thought they were gone. I couldn’t feel any movement from them.

"I grabbed the house phone and went back outside to get some air and to ring 999 for the fire brigade to come.

"Then I went back in to check my birds who were in the living room area. We’d covered them up for the night so they had blankets over them. I pulled them back and I could see they were gone. There was nothing I could do for them.

"Neighbours were telling me not to go back in but I had got wildife and my other two parrots upstairs as well so I went back in to check on them and they were fine.

"Once I knew they were alright I came back out again with the whole intention of going back in to get them but the neighbours stopped me.

"Fire crews carried my animals out and rushed them to the fire engine to give them CPR. They fought long and hard to save one of my dogs and blue lighted my other two down to Park Hall vets.

"I lost my two macaw’s and love bird that were in the living room. My macaw was 25-years-old and she was part of my family. They were rescues as well.

"I can’t walk in that house at the minute. I’m concentrating on the rescue and the animals that are left to just keep me going.

"Material things can be replaced. I’ve got my memories and I am so thankful for the vets that they managed to save my other two dogs.”

More than £13,000 has been raised after a fundraiser was set up by Paul Haywood, who runs Haywood’s, The Home Of Alrate Cheesecakes, on High Street, Mansfield Woodhouse.

Cheryl said: "I’m so overwhelmed by the support we’ve been getting. It’s overwhelming me.

"I’ve been doing it a long time on my own and people didn’t realise when they were ringing me to do things that I was a one man band.

"Until we get the centre up and running I am literally a one man band, I go out and do the rescues myself and raise them myself.

“I didn’t realise until this happened how much people thought of me. It’s really overwhelmed me as I can see that now.

"People have said to me that this bad thing has happened but it has highlighted to people that I’m here and what I do.

"I’m trying to look at the positive side of things that has come out of this rather than what’s gone.

"But I don’t know what I’m going to be like when I go back into the house because they’re not going to be there and they’ve been there all these years.

"My dog was 14-years-old and his sister that survived is looking all over for him.

“I don’t know if the dogs are going to feel settled as it happened to them as well in the house.

"I can’t explain how it is effecting me but I can see how it is effecting my dogs as they have lost family members.”

To make a donation to the fundraising apeal visit bit.ly/39BNuUL