This disabled mom survived the Eaton fire. Now, the recovery is killing her

"Breathless as if the smoke still lingered, on a recent morning she bundled her effervescent 3-year-old daughter, Luna, into her car seat for the two-hour trek from her aunt's house in Riverside, where they have lived for much of the past year, back to their family's 1909 Craftsman home. It stands steps from the Eaton fire burn scar - untouched, but uninhabitable."

"At first blush, Newman seems equally vital. But her heart is dying, the result of a rare and often fatal complication of pregnancy that disproportionately affects Black women. After her diagnosis in 2022, her late grandmother's home became a refuge. The address enabled Luna's hard-won spot in a subsidized preschool program, the family's public benefits, access to Newman's medical specialists and the elusive form of state health insurance - "straight Medi-Cal" - she needs for a transplant."

"Officials have long known that disabled residents are disproportionately likely to die in wildfires. It's a pattern that has been repeated from Paradise to Lahaina, and again in Los Angeles, where Newman's neighbors the Mitchells burned to death awaiting help that never came. Now, emerging research shows disabled survivors are also disproportionately likely to suffer in the aftermath of an inferno - as much from smoke and ash as from bureaucratic intransigence and institutional failure."

Jessica Newman repeatedly wakes gasping from smoke-related trauma after being evacuated during 90 mph Santa Ana winds on Jan. 8. Her family's 1909 Craftsman home near the Eaton fire burn scar appears intact but is uninhabitable. Newman, 32, has a failing heart caused by a rare, often fatal pregnancy complication that disproportionately affects Black women. Her address enabled her daughter Luna's subsidized preschool spot, public benefits, specialist access and the straight Medi-Cal needed for a transplant. Officials note disabled residents are disproportionately likely to die in wildfires. Emerging research finds disabled survivors also suffer disproportionately in the aftermath from smoke, ash, bureaucratic intransigence and institutional failure.

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