The Adopted Jackson (editing)

Chapter 1 - A Tragic Loss

Chapter 1 – A Tragic Loss

Losing any family member is horrific and a truly heartbreaking time for the family but imagine losing all of your family at the same time. Nothing could be more traumatic and unbearable. Sadly, this happened to a little girl named Rose Olivia Dixon.

Her family were taken when a fire engulfed the building in which they lived; she was the only one to survive. Rose’s eight year old sister, Jennifer, had decided to try and cook dinner for her family but she became distracted by the television when her favourite program came on leaving the cooker switched on so poisonous gas could leak out and fill the flat. Jennifer would only realise when it was too late. After her program had finished she skipped into the kitchen and struck a match and BOOM!!!! Jennifer tried in desperation to put out the fire but it quickly engulfed and killed her.

The door slammed shut by the explosion, Rose’s brother Eric (aged 4), and father Jack ran to see what was going on but when the kitchen door was opened the fire engulfed them, claiming their lives as well. Rose’s mother Kerry had heard the explosion and raced down the stairs but before she reached the bottom she felt the scorching heat as the fire found its way to the staircase. Kerry sprinted back upstairs and threw open the window to shout for help at the top of her lungs. Fortunately someone had seen the fire and had called for the fire brigade, who arrived in record timing. While all of this was happening, eight month old Rose was sleeping soundly in her crib, unaware of the scorching heat and chaos surrounding her.

Despite the speedy response of the fire brigade, they were too late to save Rose’s family. While they were extending the ladder, tragedy struck again for just as soon as the ladder was within reach of the open window one of the support beams in the roof collapsed crushing Kerry who was directly beneath it. The fire-fighters raced up the ladder to see if they could save Kerry, but it was too late; they searched the house for survivors but found none, it was only when they were on their way out that they spotted the crib. At first they thought it was a doll but when it moved they realised it was a baby sleeping peacefully. Rose was gently lifted up and carried down the ladder then into an awaiting ambulance that whisked her away to the hospital. By this time Rose had awoken and when she couldn’t see anyone she recognised, tears began streaming down her cheeks but despite the nurses best efforts to comfort her, nothing worked since all Rose wanted was her mother but she didn’t know that she would never be able to see her mother again.

After a full examination the doctors declared her healthy apart from a slight amount of smoke inhalation and a minor burn to the back of Rose’s hand, although both would clear within a few weeks.

As the weeks passed the police tried in desperation to track down a family member to care for Rose, but when they came to numerous dead ends they decided that they had no other option but to put her into a nearby orphanage in the hope that she would soon get adopted. The nurses were sad to see her go since she had been such a happy baby and made them all glad to go to work in the morning, but they all knew that it was the best thing for her since she couldn’t remain in the hospital for the rest of her life.