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Chesapeake woman home from hospital after deadly fire in Roanoke Co.

Posted at 10:45 PM, Apr 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-14 23:09:32-04

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - A Chesapeake woman is speaking for the first time since she survived a horrific house fire that claimed the lives of two boys.

Christy Montoya and her husband Zak were visiting close family friends, the McKinnon family, in Roanoke County back on March 18th.

A fire broke out in the middle of the night after everyone fell asleep.

Christy says she bolted to the third floor where the kids were sleeping.

"I just remember making it to the top of the stairs and being hit and going down and then freaking out because I didn't get to anybody."

Zak says he was able to find Christy and drag her outside to reunite with their 7-year-old and 5-year-old daughters, along with Tom and Lindsay McKinnon.

The McKinnon's two boys, 10-year-old Patrick and 5-year-old Logan were not there.

"By the time I got back there with the ladder, the window that the boys were at was gone, it wasn't there anymore," says Zak.

The Montoya's say they later realized that Lindsay was the first one to wake up to the fire and she saved the Montoya's girls first.

When she went to save her own boys, it was too late.

"It's very hard to know that she saved our children and then we weren't able to save hers," says Zak.

Christy is home from the hospital, but she has 20 percent burns to her body and a long road of rehab and recovery ahead.

She's still working to get her range of motion back in her arms and hands. In a couple weeks, she says she will have to wear a glove, sleeve, cup on her shoulder, and vest for 21 hours a day to help heal the burns.

"My children saw me burned and I scared them and now they're scared of my injuries they`re scared they are going to hurt me," she says. "Every day that there's something new I can do that I couldn't do before, or something that doesn't bother me that I did before, I just try to be really happy about that."

Christy is a hair stylist, but will not be able to return to work right away. Fortunately, she says the community has been overwhelming and amazing in helping with that.

"Through fundraising and prayers and food people just want to do everything to help us and have and it's definitely what is getting us through all of this stuff."

A YouCaring page has already raised more than $56,000.

The Montoya's are asking for everyone to keep the McKinnon family in their thoughts as well.

A memorial will be held this Sunday for Patrick and Logan.