BRADLEY COUNTY, Ark. – A father dying by the side of his bedridden son has been one of the most compelling stories from the wildfires in California, one with an Arkansas connection.

Anthony Mitchell and his son Justin are the father and brother of Hajime White who was born and raised in Bradley County, Arkansas. White is Anthony’s oldest child and only daughter.

They spoke every week, and White was the last person her dad called before the fire overtook his home while waiting for an ambulance to rescue him and his son. His final words are burned into White’s memory and fuel her frustration over the Los Angeles County fire.

“’Baby, I’ve got to go. The fire has made it in my yard!’” White described. “They should have been able to get to them. I just feel too that the state of California failed them.”

White said between her dad calling another brother and her there was at least an hour to get them out. Anthony and Justin Mitchell both used wheelchairs and needed an ambulance or some other help to get out of the home.

“Could you not get there? Was something stopping you? What just what? Why?” White asked.

White said her dad, an amputee, may have been able to evacuate without his son who was bedridden with cerebral palsy, but that wasn’t the person he was or the one he raised his family to be.

“He was not going to leave none of us behind,” White said. “He was going to be with us until his last breath, and that’s what he did.”

White said she would have done the same. So she’ll hold onto the life lessons, voicemails, pictures, and anything else left while waiting for an explanation of why it is all gone.

“I just want answers to why this has happened not only just to my dad and my brother but to the whole [state] of California,” White concluded.

Anthony left behind other children. One son would have been in the house too, but because he was hospitalized, he survived. He also had 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

White, her husband, and her children in Arkansas are trying to travel to California for his and Justin’s memorial. They will need financial assistance to make the trip and acquire lodging. Those who wish to donate can do so through their GoFundMe.