UK Firefighters still struggle after Grenfell Tower

"It will stay with us forever": Hero Grenfell firefighters reveal emotional toll of dealing with tower tragedy
Mirror UK
Emily Retter
February 10, 2018

They worked relentlessly, up and down the smoke-filled stairs time and time again. The team had to listen to the screams and cries of victims and traumatised survivors in the worst blaze on our soil since the Second World War.

Tom Abell says he "shed a few tears" when the reality of the tragedy hit him (Image: Daily Mirror)

After witnessing the horrors of the inferno, Tom Abell and his colleagues are still suffering - but the brave crew are now set to run the London ­marathon to raise cash for victims

Driving day after day past the charcoal shell of Grenfell Tower , knowing first-hand the horrors that lay within, firefighter Tom Abell was unable to process what had happened there.

Based at the closest fire station, he and his watch had been first to arrive and then spent nine hours in the heart of the devastation.

They worked relentlessly, up and down the smoke-filled stairs time and time again. The team had to listen to the screams and cries of victims and traumatised survivors in the worst blaze on our soil since the Second World War.

Later, at North Kensington fire station, Tom read letters written in hopeful childish ­handwriting, with the pleading words: “My friend is still missing, can you help me find him?”

And he watched the events of June 14 over and over on television.

Yet it still took days before 31-year-old Tom could actually take any of it in. Then reality struck like a tsunami.

And today, Tom and his colleagues, along with the Grenfell residents, are still suffering torment over the blaze that killed 71 adults and children.
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