Corio shed fire survivor Mavis Perry’s year from hell
A year after the death of her three siblings in a horrific shed fire, the young survivor has had to endure her school classroom burning down and her father being sent to prison, it can be revealed.
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A year after the death of her three siblings in a horrific shed fire, the sole survivor of the tragedy has had to endure her classroom burning down and her father being sent to prison.
Mavis Perry, whose sister Ashlynn and brothers Isaac and Saige were killed after they were trapped inside a burning garden shed in a Corio backyard, has again seen her young life turned upside down by flames after it was revealed she was one of the students affected by the Northern Bay College inferno last month.
It comes as the brave seven-year-old continues her painful recovery from shocking burns suffered on October 22 last year.
A teenager has been charged over the destructive school fire at Northern Bay on October 8, which destroyed classrooms and offices.
Mavis, along with all prep to year six students at the school, are said to have “settled back successfully” at the Hendy campus following the blaze.
A Department of Education spokesman said while year seven and eight students remained at the Peacock Campus, plans were under way to welcome these older students back to the Hendy campus “as soon as possible.”
“Northern Bay College is working closely with the Victorian School Building Authority to install temporary general purpose and specialist classrooms to welcome students back to the Hendy campus.”
Meanwhile Mavis’ father, Zachary Perry, was jailed for a series of concerning crimes earlier this year.
The 29-year-old pleaded guilty in the County Court at Melbourne on October 11 to charges including home invasion, theft and impersonating a police officer.
Mavis is still receiving skin-grafts at a “weekly rate”, a situation that was a burden for her incarcerated dad, the court heard.
Mavis suffered severe burns to most of her body as a result of the Corio shed blaze, spending months at the Royal Children’s Hospital recovering.
Pictures of her smiling and celebrating the Good Friday Appeal dressed in a burn compression hood show the character she has shown in the face of unbelievable adversity and upheaval in her life.
It comes as the scene of the Corio tragedy, on Officer Court, appears unrecognisable from the house that played home to one the most devastating fire related fatalities of recent times.
It has been rendered and painted white with a fence lining the front of the property.
A coroner is reviewing evidence provided by specialist detectives into the deaths of the three children, aged five, three and one.
Findings are expected to be released next year.
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Originally published as Corio shed fire survivor Mavis Perry’s year from hell
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