By Nia Cross

Emma was a graduate student, in St. Louis, Missouri, working toward her doctorate in neuroscience when she experienced a devastating apartment fire. Before this experience, she had volunteered with the Red Cross. She remembered thinking, “You never think you will be the one who needs help.”

During a winter storm, Emma was at home watching television when she began to smell what she described as burning plastic. She called her neighbors to ask whether the smell might be coming from another apartment.

Soon, someone began knocking on doors and telling residents that the building was on fire. Emma immediately tried to get her cat Baby Dee, but she was unable to find or rescue her. As she stood in the parking lot, she called a friend for help and together they watched as the building burned.

Emma said she “never thought it would happen to me.”

The next day, Emma returned to the building, expecting to be able to retrieve Baby Dee and her belongings. Instead, she discovered that the ceiling was missing and that water from the firefighting efforts had flooded the apartment. Her belongings were floating in the water. With help from a neighbor, Emma found Baby Dee but unfortunately, the cat had died. This came as a shock to Emma, who was already under significant pressure as a graduate student. After the disaster, she suddenly had additional questions and responsibilities: Did she have renters’ insurance? How would she replace her belongings? How would she continue graduate school?

She described being in a state of shock and said she was essentially “on autopilot.” She focused on getting through the immediate situation without fully understanding how much the disaster would affect her.

Having escaped the fire with only the clothes she was wearing that night, Emma was thankful for how fast the Red Cross was able to help her during her time of need. Although she had previously been a Red Cross volunteer helping others, she never expected that she would someday need the organization’s services herself. Being the one who needed assistance was completely different.

“No matter how hard you try to put yourself in someone's shoes,” Emma shared, “experiencing a disaster yourself gives you a different understanding of its impact.”

Her experience showed her that disasters can happen to anyone.