BUS FIRE HORROR

OUR KIDS WERE TRAPPED INSIDE

Whitney's family were on a dream adventure when disaster struck

Whitney Copeland, 33

Pointing the camera at my kids in their bunk beds, I beamed with pride.

'Smile for a picture!' I said as Pepper, then 12, Kade, 10, Emree, six, and Krew, four, gave their best cheesy grins.

They'd excitedly picked a colour for their bunk and decorated it, as we turned an old commuter bus into a family home on wheels.

We got the idea after my husband, Kyle, 27, suffered a brain injury after a routine procedure on his sinuses.

'We could have lost you,' I said to him.

'Every minute of family time is so precious now.'

Like most busy families, we were always rushing. But we wanted more meaningful time with the kids while they were young.

'We should travel the country,' Kyle suggested.

I loved the idea, so we started researching vehicles big enough.

In March 2019, we spotted a bus on an auction website for $10,000, and could see its potential.

'Are we crazy to do this?" we laughed, before we bought it.

A couple of weeks later, we got to work.

Our friends and family pitched in to help build interior walls.

By August 2020, we had sold our house and started homeschooling on the open road. Thanks to Kyle's handiwork, we had everything we needed - showers, solar power, and a small fire to keep us warm.

Soon, we got into a routine. Monday to Thursday were school days, so after breakfast we'd get out our books, or go on a hike and learn about nature.