ARDEN, N.C. (WLOS) — Nearly two years after Helene swept away their Fairview home, two sisters whose remarkable survival story captured the attention of western North Carolina are still working to rebuild their lives.
On Sunday, community members gathered at Sleep On It Mattress Outlet & Gallery in Arden to raise money for Jackie Fenstermacher, 74, and Cynthia Dunn, 75 — known by many as the “Mattress Sisters.” The duo survived Helene by floating downstream on a mattress.
“The house got ripped to shreds,” Fenstermacher recalled. “And I pushed [Cynthia] on the mattress, got the dog, and we held on for dear life.”…