INDIANTOWN, Martin County — A Martin County community is now rallying around one of their own.
Liz Nesson is a fixture in parts of Indiantown, always helping others and caring for hospice patients. She volunteers her time daily, feeding patients who need it, driving them to appointments and holding their hands when they take their final breath.
"If somebody is sick, they can call me and I’ll come and stay with them," Nesson said. "If they’re dying, I will stay with them until they die. I'm able to do it, and I love to do it. I believe everyone should die with dignity."
Now, Nesson has suffered her own tragedy, and those she's helped before are determined to return the favor.
On June 7, while Nesson was helping care for a hospice patient, her home went up in flames. When the elderly woman returned home, she found her kitchen in shambles, and firefighters fighting the flames.
Although she and her two cats survived, her parrot didn't, and the home she built with her late husband, whom she lost to cancer, didn't survive either. Nesson said they declared it unlivable.
"It's not salvageable," Nesson said. "I'm heartbroken. Absolutely heartbroken. "All my memories are gone. I feel kind of like my life is gone.”
Firefighters said it started in the kitchen, and Nesson showed WPTV's Kate Hussey where her island stove went up in flames.
“They think the fire started right here, this was a big island," Hussey said.
Nesson said she called to get an estimate on repairs and was told it would cost at least $60,000 to make the home unlivable, and since her insurance expired days earlier, she fears she'll lose the home she made so many memories in.
"It's like, kick me when I'm down," Nesson said.
Now, the one who cares for so many others when the need it most, needs a hand to hold herself.
"I'm really proud, I'm not used to accepting help from anyone, but you feel kind of funny accepting it from anyone else, you know what I mean? But this one time, I'm saying, I'm begging for help. I'm begging, this is my home. I want to come back to it," Nesson said. "I'm scared. Scared that this might not happen. Scared of where my future is. Of the uncertainty. I'm praying."
As scared as she is, Nesson stays thankful. Thankful she's OK, and thankful her pets are too. She's also thankful that inside a house down the street, her neighbor, Rick Werkmeister, has opened his home to her, just as she's opened up her home to others.
It's just temporary, but it's a place to stay with a friend who cares; and who will hold her hand as she's held his.
"I needed help, and she made her help available. She's my caregiver," Werkmeister said.
"So now your giving care back?" Hussey asked.
"Yup," Werkmeister said.
“Yes, he is," Nesson said.
At the time of the fire, Nesson was also in the process of building a back addition, which she was turning into a room to care for hospice patients that have nowhere to go.
The fire burned not only her home, but also that dream.
Friends have started a GoFund Me page for Nesson, to help her rebuild. If you'd like to donate, click here.