After undergoing chemo treatment, one Paradise woman had to run for her life during the Camp Fire

Shane and April Mouton got married in Bille Park in Paradise, Calif. almost three years ago. April has lived in Paradise her whole life, and Shane, who is from South Africa, has lived there since they got married.

April is currently fighting lupus, which made her evacuation from Paradise during the Camp Fire on Nov. 8 even more difficult.

“I actually am really sick,” April said. “I’m doing chemo right now, so my job is to stay alive just to fight to live.”

As they were driving out of Paradise, they were told they had to abandon their car and run for their lives.

“All of a sudden, a police pounds on our window and is like if you guys wanna make it you need to get out and go,” April said.

Their journey down the hill was a mix of running and jumping in the backs of trucks.

“I imagine it was worse than a war zone,” April said.

Author

Ashlyn Rollins

Ashlyn Rolllins graduated summa cum laude from Corban University with a B.S. in political science. Her passions include advocating for vulnerable populations including the elderly and those living in poverty. After her semester studying communications, marketing, migration and free speech and interning in Washington, D.C., she served as editor-in-chief for her school’s newspaper, The Hilltop. In this role, she gave students a platform to share their “me too” experiences and sought to relate national news and campus news. During her senior year, she wrote her thesis on malnutrition in nursing homes and presented it at a national undergraduate research conference. Ashlyn is excited to use the data and storytelling skills she learns at Stanford to write affective stories about major political issues.

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