A PORT woman who rushed to help a young neighbour scarred for life in a freak fire accident has now become a blaze victim herself.
Sharon Harley's Springhill Road flat was so badly damaged when a chip pan overheated that she has had to move to temporary accommodation.
The currently unemployed hairdresser has lost everything in her kitchen and will be left out of pocket because of the blaze.
Yet the 42-year-old is still determined to go ahead with a seven-day charity trek starting on August 20, to raise money for children injured in fires.
Brave Sharon says the fire in her home was a big shock, but added that she has been training hard to walk the 95-mile West Highland Way and would carry on.
Sharon said: "I was out of the flat when one of my sons put on the chip pan at 11 o'clock at night and it caught fire.
"My private landlord is insured for the building, but I'm not insured for the damage to my possessions.
"I've lost everything in my kitchen.
"The flat is smoke damaged, but thankfully no-one was injured."
Sharon is being sponsored to do her marathon walk for the Scottish Burned Children's Club, a charity which has supported 11-year-old Karla Peacock for seven years since she suffered second and third degree burns to her head after an horrific accident with a candle.
Courageous Karla spent eight weeks in hospital receiving intensive treatment before being allowed home.
Sharon, who ran to Karla’s rescue on the day of her accident, said: "She’s such a strong young person, and she's inspired me to do the walk. I'm definitely doing it, even though the fire in my flat has been such a shock."
Sharon lived above Karla and her mum Tanya in Dubbs Road at the time of the accident, and still vividly remembers the morning it happened in May 2010.
Sharon said: “It was early in the morning and I heard a scream. I ran down the stairs and when I went in I grabbed Karla and put a damp towel on her head.
“Her mum was in shock.”
Karla’s mum Tanya says the memory of that morning still haunts her.
She said: “Karla had got up for a drink of juice at 5.45am. I shouted on her and asked her to go back for a nap before nursery.
“Then it went quiet, so I shouted on her again and the next minute I heard this horrendous scream.
“She ran into the room and I could smell burning from her hair.
“Sharon came running down and put a damp towel on her head and we phoned an ambulance.”
Karla lost all of the front of her hair, and the burns at the side of her head and forehead were so serious that doctors had to use skin grafts from her leg to treat her wounds.
The Scottish Burned Children’s Club supports youngsters and their families dealing with the life-long scars caused by burn and scald injuries.
It organises day trips, special events and visits to various organisations throughout the year for the children and their families, including a week-long ‘rehabilitation’ camp for the youngsters to share experiences and make friends with others in a similar situation.
Anyone who would like to sponsor Sharon can do so online at www.mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/sharonharley1