A NSW woman has had a miraculous escape after a mountain collapsed in a deluge and caused her home to fall on top of her.
The roof of Christina Bartling-Clark’s home caved in on her on Monday night when a 200mm downpour washed away part of the mountain.
“There was a massive mudslide, half the mountain came down and pushed the house over,” son Chandra Bartling, 25, told NCA Newswire.
“My mum got crushed and got a really deep gash in her bicep.”
Christina, who had been home alone, punched through a window and crawled through the mud over broken trees to escape the wreckage of the Nimbin home she had helped build in the Northern Rivers.
She was rescued by her partner Yan who had been battling to reach her through the rain and fallen trees blocking the driveway.
He returned from work to find her with a deep wound, carried her back to the car and took her to Nimbin hospital.
“I’m just grateful that my stepdad got there in time,” Chandra said.
“She would be dead if it weren’t for him.”
Chandra said his mother lost a fair amount of blood and seemed to be somewhat stable.
“They’re talking about airlifting her to Brisbane or Lismore but it’s not possible, there’s too much going on or not enough availability,” he said.
“I’ve just been praying all night that she doxjmtzywesn’t die.”
Chandra, who has been living in Germany for almost three years, said his family had lived on the mountain for more than 30 years without similar incident.
He said he was happy to jump on a plane to return home, but there was no home to return to.
“My stepdad said there’s not much point,” he said.
“They don’t have a home and they don’t have a space for me, even if I wanted to. I would just be another burden.”
The home was not insured and Chandra has launched a fundraising bid to help pay for expenses such as his mother’s medical costs and rebuilding.
“The walls are crushed, the living room’s full of mud and the roof has collapsed. It’s not a house anymore,” he said.
