A mother died trying to save her children from the house fire. His organ donation helped eight other people

(CNN) — A 23-year-old mother who died after helping save her three young children from a house fire has now helped eight others by donating her organs, her family and the local coroner said.

Three days before Madison Hope Summerville celebrated her 23rd birthday, Feb. 15, according to a verified GoFundMe page created by his sister.

Summerville was able to get one of her children out of her mobile home in Spalding County, Georgia, county fire operations chief Michael Byrd told CNN.

The boy began “screaming for help” and was found by someone at a nearby recycling center, according to Spalding County Fire Chief Rocky White.

The man notified a nearby fire station and fire authorities, along with two neighbors, rushed to the home and rescued the mother and two children, who were still inside, White said.

“We knew we had to get the kids out,” Bradley Wright, one of the neighbors who responded to the fire, told CNN affiliate WSB.

“So (she) opens the door and gets the first baby out, who I did CPR on for about 10 minutes,” Wright said. “I had kids that age and I just knew what any parent would do: just jump into action and make sure the kids are OK.”

WSB, citing family members, reported that Summerville refused to leave the house until all of her children were safely outside.

He died of smoke inhalation a day after the fire, Spalding County Coroner Michael Pryor said. Summerville was an organ donor and his donation “helped eight other people,” Pryor said.

“She was unbelievable in the fact that she went to great lengths to try to get her children out… to the point where it basically cost her her life,” Pryor added.

Summerville’s sister described her as “an amazing mother, wife, sister, daughter and friend” on the GoFundMe page.

“He loved spending time with his children and his nieces and nephews, and he also loved to fish, rain or shine,” according to the page. “Madison was a happy person who instantly made you smile.”

A fundraiser was planned to help cover Summerville’s funeral expenses, his sister said. As of Thursday night, he had raised more than $23,000.

According to WSB, authorities have not released the cause of the fire at the home, only that it was accidental.
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