Exclusive: There’s an old adage that trouble tends to come in threes.

Despite the challenges life has thrown her way, this 62-year-old remains resolutely optimistic and unyielding in her determination to persevere.

“I’m at a loss for what to wear to my mother’s funeral because I no longer have a wardrobe,” Dashwood shared with nine.com.au.

“I don’t even own a pair of socks.”

Dashwood managed to escape her home just moments before a fire swept through her neighborhood, leaving her community in devastation.

She said her “sanctuary” was among the first to burn to the ground.

“My gut instinct said get out, and I didn’t question it,” Dashwood recalled.

“I just got a small bag ready, and put the dogs in the car. I only just bought one night’s worth of clothes.

“My house was gone in less than 10 seconds.”

The mum and former policewoman said she “wouldn’t have survived” if she stayed to protect her home.

She also acknowledges that this cost is prohibitive to many homeowners in bushfire and flood zones.

“One insurance agency was going to charge me $21,000 for insurance, and I got another company down to $9500 a year,” she added.

“I’ve never been through this, and I didn’t know what hoops I’d have to jump through.”

It will likely be a long time before Dashwood sees the money.

Now, with only the clothes on her back, Dashwood faces the daunting task of starting from scratch.

“I want to go back there and I want to rebuild because my ultimate plan, because I’m 62 and I was happy to retire there,” she said.

Dashwood’s niece Remi is in awe of her aunt’s strength.

She has started a GoFundMe crowdfunding page to help Dashwood pick up the pieces and reassemble her life.

It has already amassed close to $30,000.

“How do you replace a whole life?” Remi said.

“That’s just incomprehensible. The insurance covers a part of that, but it doesn’t really cover everything.”

Dashwood is now staying with a friend in Berwick in Melbourne’s south-east, but when she returns home, she plans to pay the generosity forward.

“I am absolutely speechless. I am humbled to the core,” she said.

“And I will, once this blows over, spend my time paying that forward in incredible ways.”