Vic mum relives Black Saturday horror Sam Matthews was anxious when he rang his mother Carol as fire approached the family home on Black Saturday. Within seconds his mood shifted to panic: "Oh god, there's fire everywhere," he said. Those were some of the last words Ms Matthews would hear from her 22-year-old son. Sam was home alone at St Andrews when the February 7, 2009 firestorm approached. He rang his parents, who were holidaying hours away in Inverloch, urging them to come home. "He sounded anxious but not in a panic," recalled Ms Matthews, the lead plaintiff in a class action over the Kilmore East fire that killed 119 people. "Suddenly he said 'oh my god a tree is on fire' ... 'oh my god, it's just exploded'," she told the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday. Then within seconds his whole tone of voice changed to panic and he said `Oh god, there's fire everywhere'. From the other end of the phone line, Ms Matthews could hear popping sounds. "The windows have just exploded," Sam told her. Ms Matthews tried to remain calm for her son and told him to head for the wet towels in the bathroom as per the family bushfire plan. Her last words to her son were: "You'll be okay Sam. Just remember what you need to do. "I can only assume he was en route to the bathroom because his remains were found in the kitchen," Ms Matthews told the court. Ms Matthews is leading a class action of more than 10,000 people suing SPI Electricity, claiming its negligence in failing to maintain power lines sparked the blaze. The group is also taking action against the CFA, Victoria Police and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) over their failure to warn communities. All defendants deny the allegations and are fighting the claims. Ms Matthews told the court of the anguish of knowing Sam's body remained at the house for days after the fire. She said she suffers recurring nightmares of her final conversation with her son and visits a psychologist to cope with feelings of guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder. "If I could I would bury myself in a hole and surface some time later," she said. Ms Matthews said her family instantly fell in love with the St Andrews home when they emigrated from England. But the fire spared only two charred chimney stacks. Ms Matthews said rebuilding would be too traumatic. "If we built back on the site where Sam died that would push me over the edge," she said.