'I got a phone call from her saying, ‘I can’t get out, I love you'

A couple who lost their dog and everything they own in a devastating house fire have spoken of their heartbreak.

Andy Martin and Lori Power had their worst nightmares realised when a blaze ripped through their Middleton home on August 16.

Andy, 31, was working away when he received a worried FaceTime call from Lori at around 11.30pm. The 26-year-old said she could hear an alarm and believed someone was trying to break into the house.

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But to her horror, as she walked out onto the landing, Lori could see a thick cloud of smoke coming up the stairs. Lori hung up the phone and dialled emergency services while Andy asked a friend to rush over to the rented property.

Moments later, she called back to tell Andy she couldn’t escape the property. She gave her final goodbyes and told him she loved him.

But miraculously, the construction company worker managed to survive the blaze by jumping from an upstairs window. However, the fall saw her break part of her spine and she is currently recovering in hospital.

Tragically, one of their two dogs, four-year-old French bulldog Willow, died from her burns. The couple are now homeless and are currently trying to find new accommodation through the council.

“I got a phone call from Lori saying, ‘I can’t get out, I love you,’” Andy, who helps fit hoists for disabled children, told the Manchester Evening News.

“I was stuck in Brighton and my heart just went. She squeezed through a window and missed the ledge and fell onto her back. She collapsed at the gate. She could have been paralysed.”

Sadly, the couple were not able to salvage anything from their home.

The couple claim an