It’s been a week from hell for Cairns mum Jenelle Reghenzani
It’s been a week from hell for a Cairns mum who lost her pet of 15-years before being pulled unresponsive from her burning house, and to top it off on Friday her car was destroyed by alleged thieves dicing with death on the roads.
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In a perfect storm of tragedy a Cairns woman has been hospitalised after being rammed by an alleged stolen car days after losing her pet dog and narrowly escaping with her life after her house was destroyed by fire.
Bayview Heights resident Jenelle Reghenzani has struggled to pick up the pieces after her house on Toogood Rd was gutted by fire on Tuesday.
She lost her devoted four legged companion of 15-years Maxi the same day.
Not up for cooking dinner, Ms Reghenzani sent her son Anthony Dillon out to pick up pizza.
While the lad was away she plugged in a disused food dehydrator to check it still turned on, and in a moment the house was ablaze.
“It was an electrical fire, everything blew up. It started in the kitchen and went through every appliance in the house, the microwave, fridge, dishwater and laptop,” she said.
“The house went up in two minutes. I got down on my hands and knees because I had no oxygen to breathe.
“My airway got burnt, I nearly died. They had to smash the doors down to get me out.”
She was fortunate an off duty paramedic and passers-by were in the area to help.
The house condemned, Ms Reghenzani went to stay at a friend’s house and hoping to repay some of the kindness shown to her, ducked down to the shop to pick up milk on Friday morning.
Seeing alerts circulated by police on social media the mother-of-three spotted an alleged stolen Toyota RAV4 with distinct personalised number plates - stolen from Uber driver David Kennedy and stopped to call police.
“I had seen it all over Facebook and we called triple-0 and the other stolen car turned up and then the next thing you know it’s reversing up the street into my car,” she said.
“I was boxed in and couldn’t get away from him.
“I was just going to the shop to get some milk and that happened. Surely we have the right to drive on the road and not have that happen.”
A police spokeswoman confirmed the alleged stolen vehicle intentionally reversed into a civilian car on De Jarlais St Earlville at 11.10am.
The owner of the now damaged RAV4 said it has since been recovered by police.
Ms Reghenzani made her second trip to Cairns Hospital in four days following the crash and was treated for whiplash.
“It’s been the week from hell, I saw the devil on the way, he stuck his head in and said hi,” she said.
“I have lost my dog, I have lost my house and now I have lost my car.
“The thing that makes me angry is that none of this is my fault, these kids have to stop stealing cars.
“We have to do something, we have to work together to stop this s***.”
A crowd-funding page has been set up to help the family get back on their feet.
To donate search the “Bayview house fire relief” page.
Latest police data revealed 97 cars have been stolen in the Cairns area this month, and a combined total of 959 cars have been stolen to date this year.
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Originally published as It’s been a week from hell for Cairns mum Jenelle Reghenzani
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