Deadly earthquake: Looters ransack evacuated home in tsunami zone
Canterbury
A family who fled their New Brighton home with their disabled child have returned to find the property looted. Melissa Mill and her husband were shaken away by the earthquake this morning and decided to leave their home for safety. They have two daughters and the youngest has muscular dystrophy.
Thieves have been all through the Mill's house and stolen their television, an x-box and other property including their 12-year-old daughter's wireless microphone system which she needs for a hearing impairment. The system is worth about $5000 and is set up specifically for her, so will be of no use to anyone else. Mill said she was disgusted by the incident. In a city ravaged by earthquakes and disaster she thought her home would have been safe and the community would have pulled together. "It's really horrid. We took our family away to be safe and came back to all of this... it's just devastating."
The wireless microphone system should be replaced by the Ministry of Education but funds are needed to replace all other items. Thank you so much for your support.
Photo Credit: Fairfax Media/The Press
Update for the Mill Family November 17th 17 November 2016
Melissa and Matt would like to thank everyone for their incredible generosity over these past few days.
The Mills are very overwhelmed with the amount of support from NZ in such a short period of time, and have decided to close the page for the time-being.
This page will no longer accept donations, and the Mills are taking some much needed time to carefully consider how and where the extra donations will be honored to support the community affected by the earthquake. All donors will be notified in the coming days with details for distribution of donations.
The Mills are so grateful for all of your support, and say that this disaster has brought their community together. Also the support from this page has meant the world to them. Melissa said that there aren't enough words to properly thank you all! Thank you!
Here is a link to other active pages supporting the relief efforts in the South Island and affected areas: https://givealittle.co.nz/content/givealittle-news/kaikoura-earthquake-disaster-relief
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