KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The past few months have been nothing short of challenging for one Kansas City, Missouri, family.
In October, 41 Action News spoke with Willie Hough, the mother of seven adopted children who all were home at the time a fire broke out at their home.
The family's nurse, Cassandra Parnell, helps care for the children who each have a disability.
When the October fire started on the porch, Parnell rushed everyone out to safety. While she prevented tragedy then, now she's mourning with family.
"First the fire, already the health issues, now the death of a mom. Like I said, this is the hub of the family, this is the hub right here," Parnell said.
Hough died in her sleep on Jan. 4.
"She would try to help everybody she could," Gary Hough, her husband, said. "She always liked the idea of helping a child."
For many years, Willie and Gary Hough fostered children who had medical disabilities. They co-founded Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association, now known as Foster Adopt Connect.
"I guess maybe that will be our legacy, that we stepped up and decided to take care of kids and do our best with them," Hough said.
For a woman who spent most of her life caring for others, her family could use help now.
"There are seven children here still, without a mom," Parnell said. "There's a dad here, who has to watch his seven children without their mom."
The family hopes to raise enough money through a GoFundMe page for a burial and service.
"I would just like for help to lighten the load that he's going to have to carry," Parnell said.
