A woman has shared how her young family escaped the Rhodes wildfires after running from the flames for three days.
Chloe and Tommy Vincent were on their first family holiday with their three children, Rudy (6), Julen (4) and Willow (21 months), when they were evacuated from their hotel, narrowly escaping the fire.
Running to the nearby beach, the family, along with Chloe’s mum, dad and grandmother, were barely able to breathe, donning wet towels and hats to prevent smoke inhalation.
Scared for their lives, the family say they wouldn’t have survived if it hadn’t been for the Greek locals who saved their lives.
“I did think we were going to die,” 35-year-old Chloe, from Preston, told http://NeedToKnow.co.uk .
“I thought we weren’t going to get away.
“It was suffocating but we had to pretend to be ok for the children.
“We were so vulnerable and it was really traumatising.”
Arriving in Kiotari on 19 July, the Vincents had no idea what they were walking into – the only hint of the disaster was some ash on the balcony.
The next day, they were told the fire was over 50 km away, however, by Friday, the fire had moved closer, to only 35km away.
“The whole complex was going about as normal and unaware, but I could tell the situation was changing,” she said.
“Mum and Dad said to pack and bag, get water and go to the beach.
“There was a mass exodus of people from the hotel to the beach.
“People were lugging cases, children were getting hysterical and people were frightened because you could see the flames.”
Arriving at Kiotari Beach, they were ushered to the Kiotari Bay Watersports Centre where fishing boats were transporting people to safety, while helicopters flew overhead, depositing water onto the flames.
“It was almost like the sun was setting, we couldn’t see the sun for the smoke.
“We were struggling to breathe, we had wet towels over the kids.
“The smoke hung to the water.”
Climbing onto a small boat, with no lifejackets, Chloe feared her children might drown.
She secured them as best they could with armbands and a swimming float.
After 20 minutes they landed on Lardos Bay but after two hours the flames began to catch up.
Finally boarding a coach to the evacuation centre in Faloraki, a lady, Sabrina, offered them help, taking them into her home.
On 24 July, Chloe woke to a voicemail from TUI saying a plane was leaving the airport at 2 pm, so the family rushed there to find a half-empty plane.
Thankfully, they were able to safely escape and return to the UK.
“Had we stayed we possibly would have died and my nan would have died, she was struggling to breathe.
“It felt like the whole island was on fire.
“If it wasn’t for the Greek locals, we wouldn’t have got away.
“Their lives were burning and they were coming back to help us.
“We are so grateful that they saved us but they are running out of food and water.
“They have saved thousands of British nationals and we need to send them help.”
To say thank you, Chloe and Tommy have started a Just Giving page, raising money for the family and watersports centre that helped them to safety.
ENDS
