By CAROLINE STRAINIG
THE Hastings community is digging deep to help a local family in crisis.
Late yesterday morning $60,090 had already been donated to help the Wren family from Port Macquarie, whose life was turned upside down after a daughter was born prematurely while they were attending a friend’s wedding in Fiji.
In a cruel twist of fate, Ashley Wren died of a heart attack only a week after he and his wife Jayne had finally managed to fly home with their tiny baby daughter Maddison on 19 June.
The couple had already raised more than $20,000 through an appeal to cover the medical bills and cost of bringing Maddison home, because their travel insurance did not cover it. That appeal has now turned to helping Jayne and Maddison survive financially.
A school teacher who taught a Year 1 class at St Columba Anglican School, Ashley had been the family’s breadwinner and despite the fact he was only 41 years old and a fit triathlete, he had been in the process of organising life insurance only hours before he died.
Jayne described her husband as “the love of my life” in a caption on a Facebook photo.
Those who knew him described him as an inspirational man much-loved by his community. On Jayne’s Facebook page one friend wrote: “Wish I could turn back time for you”.
On their fund-raising site the family summarised their plight and ended by saying: “Jayne is in no position to return to work anytime soon and in her grief, we are looking to provide financial relief to enable her to care for Maddi and heal her crushed and broken heart.”
To help Jayne and Maddi go to http://www.mycause.com.au/page/77486
