Oh, so lucky!

By Tania Martin
A FERNY CREEK mother feared the worst last week when a tree fell on her house only metres from where her 22-month-old son was sitting.
Jodi Robinson was amazed when her son Henry wasn’t badly injuried when the tree fell.
She was in the kitchen making a sandwich for her daughter, Isabelle, when she heard the tree falling shortly after 12.30pm last Wednesday.
It fell on the side of the house above where her young son was playing in the lounge room.
Mrs Robinson rushed into the room, where Henry was sitting on the couch, and expected to see the worst.
But Henry had a lucky escape because the tree didn’t penetrate the roof.
“It made such a horrific noise that I expected the room to be obliterated,” Mrs Robinson said.
“I heard it (the tree) starting to crack and couldn’t move quick enough to get to Henry, but he was okay. I couldn’t believe it.”
Mrs Robinson said when she heard the horrendous noise of the tree falling her heart stopped because she thought Henry would have been instantly killed.
“I can’t even think of words to describe how horrendous the noise was.
“I froze and had to force my body to move to get to Henry as quickly as I could,” she said.
Mrs Robinson said she was surprised the tree had not caused more damage because of its huge size and the horrendous noise it made.
She said she was shaking so hard from fear and shock that it took her at least three times to dial her husband’s mobile phone number.
After ringing her husband, Mrs Robinson took the children to the laundry because she felt that was the safest part of house until help arrived.
She said for the next six hours Henry clung to her, and Isabelle wouldn’t stop crying all day.
“The woodcutters told me that it was a miracle we weren’t killed,” she said.
Mrs Robinson has been told that the reinforced timber beams in the ceiling saved the house from being demolished.
“They (the woodcutters) said the trees were more than 20 tonnes and that in any other case the house would have been blown to smithereens,” she said.
“I am just counting my blessings that we are here. This is the most frightening experience that I have lived through.”
“Every part of me was shaking and it was just a relief to find Henry alive because I had visions of him being trapped under the tree.”
Shire of Yarra Ranges arborists assessed the damaged tree and nearby trees on the roadside reserve yesterday.
Shire manager of community relations James Martin said it was important for the shire to make sure nearby trees hadn’t been affected by the fall of the Robinsons’ tree.