The Virginian-Pilot
©
CHESAPEAKE
The way Crystal Corbin sees it, there have been a lot of heroes around her since her trailer was destroyed by fire Monday morning.
There were the people who got her neighbor out of the trailer next door. The firefighters who kept the flames from spreading to other homes. The people she's never met who offer to replace what the fire took away.
Their actions are heroic, Corbin insists, not hers.
Lots of people seem to disagree. She ran back into her burning trailer on Ike Street to rescue her daughter, Erin, 12, who had fallen and couldn't get up. She already had gotten her three other children to safety.
"There's been a few people who have said that to me," Corbin said. "I don't feel like a hero, I just feel like a mom."
The 33-year-old, who was released from the hospital Thursday, sat on her brother's couch Friday with her arms bandaged and propped on a blanket. The swelling in her face, which was so severe that she could barely see, has subsided. The burns there were less severe.
The doctors have told her that her face should be back to normal in about two weeks. Her arms, with physical therapy, will take longer.
She is a cafeteria worker at Carver Intermediate School but doesn't know when she'll be able to go back to work.
"They wouldn't even give me an estimate because I work with my hands," Corbin said of the doctors. "I've got to be completely healed."
"But I know my job's waiting for me when I get back," Corbin said. "I work with some wonderful people. I love my job."
Her daughter, Erin, also suffered burns but was treated and released from the hospital Monday.
"She's healing like a trooper," Corbin said. "She's determined she's going to doctor herself."
Erin and Corbin's other children, Erica, 14; Courtney, 10; and Willie, 3, are glad their mom is back with them. If they're scared, she said, it hardly shows.
She believes her children, like her, understand that things lost in the fire aren't that important. Unlike a blaze they escaped several years ago, Corbin said she believed they might not get out of the Ike Street trailer.
"So I think the big difference is going to be I have a bigger appreciation for what I have," Corbin said. "It's amazing and I know I'm going to look at things differently and I know my kids are."
Cindy Clayton, (757) 446-2377, cindy.clayton@pilotonline.com
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hero
this lady is a true american hero she is alot braver then most members of the chesapeake fire dept.she should be given some type of award.
Fire Alarms - Were Any Working?
I've been following this story but haven't heard anything about operating fire alarms. It appears there were two sleeping areas so there should have been two working fire alarms. That is a lot of potential warning noise. This was her second fire within a decade. Is there a problem with the safety of mobile homes? Or with the fire alarms installed within mobile homes? If so, something needs to be done to make them safe.
If it was neglect on the landlord's or owner's part then there should be child endangerment charges filed on the landlord or owner. Those children need to be able to sleep and live in a safe environment and it is the responsiblity of the adults in their lives to keep them safe.
Cause?
Do we know how the fire started?
Good moms are hero's every
Good moms are hero's every day. Good luck to you Crystal. God Bless.
isn't that what every hero says?
Actions speak much louder than words.
well
You are a Hero!
Welcome home
Hello Crystal, I have entered 2 messages - one on your facebook, and one on Pilot. I wished you a "new home". I have 2 girls Erika and Jamie, and I swear if I was ever in the situation you were in I would have done it also, you sacrificed your life for your daughters and at the time didn't know what you were getting yourself into, Thank god you and your daughter made it out of the fire, with scares you can life with. I have been filling a box of stuff for you and will drop it by tomorrow, I would also say you have a beautiful family, lovely looking children. You did good. Take Care, Denette Smith
Oh but you are to your children and many others.
Many others, who see you as the kind of mother that everyone wishes they had, wishes others had, and hope to be themselves, see you as a hero. Are there others? Sure and you've done a good job naming them here in the article. A true hero often takes the stance you have; stating they were just doing what they felt was right, and nothing spectacular in their own eyes.
Too often movie heros prance around in tights and capes, or are arrogant, like Tony Stark in Ironman 2, requiring grandstanding with a minimum audience merely to speak to 'their public' and revel, haughtily, as a hailed hero.
It clouds the real meaning. A hero is one who places others needs and care before their own; even in life threatening danger. You, sweet lady, are a hero.