Well-wishers have raised £310,000 for a police office father who lost his wife and their two children in a Boxing Day house fire.
Fionnghuala Shearman, 38, and the couple’s two children Eve, seven, and Ohner, four, were all killed in the fire at their home in Brimscombe, near Stroud, Gloucestershire which broke out at 3am.
Fionnghuala’s husband, serving Gloucestershire police officer Tom Shearman, survived the blaze and managed to escape the flames.
That family’s dog was also killed in the fire.
Mr Shearman had desperately fought in vain to save his family for the inferno but was beaten back by the severity of the flames.
The couple had been woken by the fire and tried to reach their children in the bedroom at the back of the house, Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher said.
The parents were unable to break into their children’s room through the inside so Mr Shearman smashed the nearby bathroom window in the hope he could get into the bedroom from the outside.
He was not able to break into his children’s room.
He tried to get back into he house to save his family back through the bathroom window, but by that time the fire had cut him off from them here too.
He tried to get in via the front and back doors but these were locked. At this point fire fighters arrived, but it was already too late for Mr Shearman’s family inside.
Mr Shearman was rushed to hospital but has since been discharged.
In the five days since the tragic fire, more than 15,000 people have donated over £313,000 to help Mr Shearman get back on his feet after losing everything that day.
One anonymous donor gave £10,000 to the cause on GoFundMe, and is listed as its top donation.
The fundraiser was started only three days ago, and organiser Victoria Armstrong said: ‘THANK YOU.
‘We have all learnt that sometimes there are no words.
‘The loss to the families, friends and our community is almost unbearable but what Mr Shearman has already gone through, and now faces is unimaginable.’
The money will be used for emergency accommodation, clothing, essentials, time taken away from work and ‘the many unexpected costs that arise during a period like this’, Victoria said.
Mrs Shearman, known by friends as Nu, was born in Cheltenham and ran a successful business making canvas and leather bags.
Earlier this month she announced that her workshop would be closing for the foreseeable future.
She was heavily into knitting, and some of her friends in the community shared heartbreaking tributes for her and her children online.
Carmen Schmidt, who runs an upmarket yarn wool shop in Bath, said, ‘We lost the brightest of lights’, in an emotional post to her 26,000 Instagram followers.
‘She was my best friend and there are no words for the devastation those close to her feel right now,’ Ms Schmidt wrote.
‘It was a catastrophic house fire that took Nu and her two children in the early hours of the morning. A tragic event with no earthy reason.
‘It goes without saying that this is unbelievably difficult to navigate, especially in a public online space. I’d like to crawl into a dark hole for a good while right now but that isn’t how we built our businesses and our lives. We built them out loud for all to see and so here I am.
‘For now, please go hug your loved ones and tell the people in your life how much they mattered to you.
‘Nu was extremely good at this, she loved big and hard and I’m so grateful to have been in her orbit and I will miss her for a lifetime.’
Mrs Shearman also collaborated with knitting enthusiasts in America, which she visited to sell her specialist bags and accessories.
One friend and colleague, Danielle Erterr, who runs a yarn shop in North Carolina, America, posted a picture of herself with Mrs Shearman alongside a tribute online.
She said: ‘I am at a loss for words after hearing about Nu and her children passing.
‘When we first started working together, I truly felt like a ‘fan girl’ getting to work with a rock star.
‘Through hours chatting about knitting, spinning, sewing, owning a small business while parenting and a whole lot more, our relationship grew and we became a lot closer.
‘We often shared words of encouragement with each other when we were struggling with the balancing act of being parents and small business owners.
‘I am going to deeply miss those conversations, and my heart genuinely goes out to Nu’s husband and both of their families.
‘I am so grateful to have been able to spend the time that I did have with Nu.’
It was revealed that Mrs Shearman lost her own mother when she was just seven years old.
Mrs Shearman was also a keen runner, completing the Bath half marathon with her husband and raising money for Cancer research.
On the fundraising page she wrote: ‘Running this for mum and for a better future for me, my kids, my incredible friends and everyone that’s been directly impacted by cancer.’
DS Fletcher said other members of the emergency services had witnessed the ‘anguish’ of Mr Shearman when he was unable to rescue his wife and children.
‘We are not treating this as a suspicious incident at this time,’ the senior officer added.
‘This would appear to be a tragic accident that’s occurred in the early hours of Boxing Day.
‘The surviving member of this family is a serving police officer at Gloucestershire Constabulary and again our hearts and prayers go out to him and all of his colleagues who know him very well.
‘He is working with us to try to understand what exactly has happened within that property.’
He added: ‘We have multiple witnesses who describe the anguish that he was going through, his inability to get in and save his children and save his wife.
‘He is, as you can imagine, in a very distraught way.’
Mrs Shearman’s body was found on Sunday and Ms Blyth confirmed today that the bodies of both children and that of the family dog had also now been recovered.
