Daughter forced to tell father he'd lost his wife and three daughters
A heartbroken big sister and step daughter to a slain family was forced to tell her father of the horrific circumstances.
Shana Kikuchi’s step mother and three sisters perished in a fire on January 10, at the family’s Glen Waverley home, in Melbourne’s southeast.
The tragedy took the lives of Kaoru Okana, and her three little girls – Ako, Uta and Enna.
Shana’s father Hiroyuki Kikuchi, 50, had been dragged away from the fire by firefighters and was taken to hospital in a sedated coma.
Victoria Police Detective Senior Sergeant Neville Major has horrifically revealed their bodies were found huddled together in the debris of the bathroom.
Ms Kikuchi said her stepmother was a great friend of hers and was born to be a mum to her three little sisters.
“I will love you to the end of time,” Ms Kikuchi wrote.
Ako, 8, was described as a hard worker and always aiming to make her parents proud by always studying and playing the piano.
Five-year-old Uta was the cheeky middle child who loved to give her family a laugh and wasn’t afraid to verse her step-brother Jake in video games.
The youngest daughter was three-year-old Enna, who was described as “the littlest with the biggest personality”
“There was not a day you would see her without drawings on her arms. She was a real artist!”
Ms Kikuchi said telling her father what had happened is a moment she will never forget.
“My dad has lost everything, his beloved children, his wife Kaoru, their two cats Nixon and Tsuppy, and their home and everything in it,” she wrote on a GoFundMe page.
“On top of all this, his business was decimated this year from Covid-19 and the financial hardship it caused, leaving them with nothing.
“When I saw him in hospital after the fire, he literally had no clothes on his back – absolutely everything is gone.”
Ms Kikuchi is asking for donations in order to give her family a beautiful funeral, as well as trying to fly Kaoru’s parents from Japan to the ceremony.
The GoFundMe page since Thursday morning, has reached over $105,000 of its $150,000 goal.
The leftover money will help Hiroyuki get back on his feet, and put a roof over his head.
“Every little bit helps,” Ms Kikuchi wrote.