Chesapeake mother runs into burning trailer to rescue child

CHESAPEAKE

Around midnight Sunday, something woke up Crystal Corbin.

As soon as she stepped through the bedroom door of her trailer, she saw that her kitchen was on fire, said her father, Daniel McPherson. She didn't have much time to get her four children outside.

She headed toward their rooms and as soon as she opened one of the doors, flames erupted behind her, McPherson said.

Corbin found Erica, 14, and Courtney, 10, and took them outside. She grabbed her son, Willie, 3, and ran toward the door, handed him to one of the girls and told them to head toward the street.

Her 12-year-old daughter, Erin, hadn't made it. She had fallen in the hallway and couldn't get up.

So Corbin ran back in and pulled her daughter to safety.

"She would have died in there trying to get Erin out," McPherson said of his daughter.

Both mother and daughter suffered burns, McPherson said. Corbin was on a ventilator Monday in the burn unit at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital after inhaling smoke and because she suffers from asthma. She suffered burns on her arms and hands. By Monday evening, her condition had been upgraded to fair, according to Sentara spokesman Dale Gauding. She was able to breathe on her own, McPherson said.

Erin, who suffered burns on her knees and stomach, was treated and released, McPherson said.

The other three children were not injured. All four are staying with Corbin's brother.

Corbin works in the cafeteria at Carver Intermediate School. In the mornings, she puts breakfast outside each classroom, and teachers wondered what was wrong when it didn't appear Monday, Principal Cassandra Barksdale said.

But they weren't surprised to hear Corbin ran into the fire after Erin.

"That's the type of person she is," Barksdale said. "Very strong character, very strong person. We love her."

The three older children attend Carver and Oscar Smith Middle School; Willie is too young to be enrolled.

The fire destroyed their trailer, on Ike Street in the city's South Norfolk section. Fire officials said it does not appear to be suspicious.

This is the second time the family has been through a fire. Neighbor Trish Lowe said the same thing happened several years ago when the family lived in a different trailer up the street.

"The flames were so high, they were up in the trees," she said of the recent fire. "You could hear popping. Bless her heart, she got her kid out for the second time."

On Monday morning, all that was left of the trailer was melted metal and scorched wood furniture. There were ribbons of clothing, part of a plastic clothes basket and a blackened skateboard. The covers of two mattresses had burned away, leaving only the springs.

McPherson surveyed the damage and managed to find a treasure: Two soft Mickey Mouse dolls were covered with soot and soaked with water.

"This one survived the fire eight years ago," McPherson said, holding one of them out. His daughter probably would not move into another trailer, he said.

"I don't care if it's made out of brick," McPherson said. "I don't think she'll ever live in another one."

Anyone who wants to donate clothes or other items to the family can send them to McPherson's address: 2710 Ike St., Lot 74, Chesapeake, VA 23324.

Cindy Clayton, (757) 446-2377, cindy.clayton@pilotonline.com

Elisabeth Hulette, (757) 222-5216, elisabeth.hulette@pilotonline.com