Barb and Dave Gilbert are looking forward to their Huron Street home being rebuilt in 2023.
Their house was destroyed in November 2021 by a fire that sent the couple to hospital.
Barb was extensively burned.
“It wasn’t the fire,” says the 74-year-old. “But my face, arms and legs were burned by the extreme heat.”
Before the fire, Dave was outside at the back of the home using a deep fryer to cook chicken and fries. He thinks water from an overhead eave may have hit the oil and sparked a blaze that spread to a nearby gas line, causing a major explosion and a series of other blasts.
Parts of Dave’s back and legs were burned. His hands were injured when, with help from a neighbour, Dave tried to break into the front of the house when he realized Barb was still inside.
“The last thing I remember was excruciating pain and thinking, ‘I’m going to die today’.”
Barb was in even worse shape.
Firefighters located her with the help of thermal imaging equipment and advice from neighbours, Barb was carried from the burning house by firefighters Mac Nelson, Justin Oakes and Scott Rattray, who battled heavy smoke.
Barb was taken to Hamilton General Hospital, where she spent weeks in the ICU on a respirator.
Daughter Jennifer Gilbert says her mother “now lives with the sounds and crackling of the house collapsing.
“The heat, the pain, the surrender she felt – that this was where and how she would die.”
But Jennifer says her mother “dodged another bullet.”
In 1988, she had part of her lung removed due to an aneurysm.
In 2010, after she and Dave retired from running Gilbert Communications on Colborne Street West, doctors discovered a massive brain tumor. Barb soon couldn’t walk.
Surgery was her only choice but she was given only a four per hundred chance of survival, likely as a quadriplegic.
In a 13-hour operation, Barb required a tracheotomy, a brain shunt and a feeding tube.
After rehab, she got meningitis, an infection that wiped many of her memories of that year. She was back in hospital for months.
Then came pneumonia, abscesses in her surgical cavity, a bladder infection and a severe fall that saw Barb injure her head and a knee.
Back in the hospital, doctors expected her to be bed-ridden for the rest of her life.
But the experts didn’t count on Barb’s indomitable spirit.
Little by little, she pushed herself. Soon, she was back baking at the Stedman Community Hospice and sewing for church and mission projects.
“Barbie is pure determination,” says Dave. “If I had four of her, we could run the world.”
The Gilberts have known tragedy. Their son, Mark Gilbert, drowned in the Grand River while on a Scouting trip in 1992.
Despite it all, Barb remains upbeat.
“I’m just happy I’m still here to help people,” she says.
“You can’t give up. Oh, yeah, there’s pain, but if you keep busy, you can put it on the backburner.”
Barb crocheted an afghan that represents their house fire experience. Each square has a red centre, representing the fire, black for ash and the destruction of their home and white for the rebuilding of their lives.
Once released from the burn unit, Dave and Barb moved into a Hamilton retirement home to recover.
In November, they were able to return to a rented house in Brantford. They can watch progress being made on rebuilding their home.
The family has praise for the firefighters who rescued Barb and also the family’s cat and for all the medical workers who cared for the couple over the last year.
“They saved Barbie’s life,” Dave says of the firefighters.
“If it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t be here.”
Dave says neighbors and the family’s insurance company also have been supportive.
Jennifer says her mom is the “epitome of strength,” continuing to support friends and community agencies.
“She is strong and brave and continues to give back.”
For his part, Dave says he’s “done” with deep frying.
“I think we’ll get takeout from now on.”
@EXPSGamble