One of the last survivors rescued from Grenfell Tower has died having never left hospital. Maria Del Pilar Burton, known as Pily, spent seven months in hospital after her escape from the 19th floor with her husband Nick.
They stayed in their flat until 3.30am, more than three hours after the fire started. Nick was warned by a friend in a neighbouring tower block to leave, but he said he couldn’t carry his wife, who suffered from a debilitating long-term illness, down 38 flights of stairs. So the couple listened to advice to ‘stay in your flat’ as deadly smoke filled the building,UK Metro reports.
The building was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters banged on their door, Nick told the Standard in July. Nick revealed how he lost his wife in the chaos and nearly lost consciousness himself as smoke filled his lungs on the desperate descent down the stairs.
He heard firefighters in the foyer of the tower scream at him to leave but he stayed to wait for his wife. Sometime later he saw his wife being carried out by four officers.
‘Apart from her T-shirt, they had cut off all her clothes,’ he said. ‘I threw my towel over her to cover her modesty and followed them as they ran past.
There was no life in her. I thought she was dead. I was crying and in shock.’ He was reunited with his wife briefly before paramedics rushed her to hospital.
Despite her miraculous escape, Pily never recovered and she died more than seven months later on January 29. Nick made news of his wife’s death public for the first time this week.
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
