Rock Hill teachers help former student rebuild after deadly house fire

ROCK HILL, S.C. (WBTV) - After a deadly house fire took his mom’s life and destroyed his belongings a recent South Pointe High School graduate is facing a future he never expected.

The teachers who helped get him to graduation are stepping in to help him rebuild.

“I’m gonna miss… I’m gonna miss my mama," said 21-year-old Kheam Weldon.

Firefighters responded to a home on Maple Street just before 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21. They found heavy flames coming from the front of the house when they got there.

Weldon and his mother — 53-year-old Mary Weldon — were taken to the hospital where Mary Weldon died. When Erin Poepping heard the news of what happened she knew she wanted to help the 21-year-old have somewhere familiar to turn.

“To be a familiar face and comfortability for him at a time when he didn’t have anyone else showing up for him, that was, you know again we felt like where we needed to be,” said Poepping.

Poepping and Myra Hargrove were Kheam Weldon’s special education teachers at South Pointe. They say he has an intellectual disability and that his mom was a constant source of love and support.

“[She was] a good mother,” Kheam Weldon said.

The educators are helping him make arrangements for her this weekend to celebrate her life. “We thought it was important for him to be able to see his mom being celebrated and her life being celebrated,” Poepping said.

For now, Kheam Weldon is staying with Poepping. She’s helping him find a place to live, started a GoFundMe to help him replace what he’s lost and is working to get him back in school. Poepping says everything he knew is gone.

“Everything he is familiar with used to you know from family members to personal belongings and that sort of thing so, working on rebuilding that is gonna take some time,” Poepping said.

Kheam Weldon may have graduated, but his teachers say their commitment to him didn’t end at the classroom door.

“100% whatever he needs we’re here for him. We told him every step of the way you know for the rest of your life we will be here,” Poepping said.

The fire’s cause is still under investigation. Right now, Kheam Weldon’s former school community is focused on helping him with the immediate needs.