ROYAL OAK, Mich. – A man battling cancer saved his elderly mother from a house fire in Royal Oak.
The home on Donald Avenue caught fire early Saturday morning. James Clark, the homeowner, said it all happened so fast.
“My mom was lighting a candle and just a spark flew,” said Clark.
Clark dragged his 76-year-old mother, who can’t walk on her own, out of the home. He went back in for their three cats but was unsuccessful.
“The smoke was so black, and it instantly hit me and I knew they were gone,” said Clark.
Clark was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and has been battling it ever since. He said their house insurance lapsed when the medical bills began piling up.
“Cancer is expensive and all the treatment and my mom and all of her problems. It’s been a whirlwind. These five years, they’ve been hell, and this caps it off.”
Between the smoke and fire damage the house is a loss, a friend of the family created a GoFundMe for Clark and his mother.