The family who survived the Christchurch gas explosion have sent a message of thanks out to the wider community tonight, following their horrifying ordeal.
Family spokesperson Donnelle Glen returned to the property with her fiancée Alan Morton today to thank the emergency workers and neighbours.
Her mother was one of the five people inside when the house exploded last Friday, sending debris across the neighbourhood.
While those affected are still too traumatised to speak publicly, Ms Glen says they are enormously grateful to those who helped them.
"Just on behalf of all the families that are involved, I just want to thank everybody, obviously the first responders and the guys that run in and helped as well," she says.
"It's just amazing, you guys just did an amazing job to pull them all out and help them out, so thank you all."
Ms Glen's mother has since been discharged and is recovering the best she can, but three others remain in hospital, including one in a critical condition and two in a stable condition.
With the formal investigation still underway, the family can't talk about what happened just yet.
But despite everything they've been through, they say they're just thankful everyone survived.
"It's just a miracle that everybody's got out safe and we're glad that everybody's safe," Mr Morton says.
"That is the lotto, they've won it, they've won it, that day."
The family are grateful to still have their mum and now looking towards recovery.
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