‘Many of us still have terrible nightmares’

Claire Simmons, 44, lives 200 metres from Grenfell Tower and witnessed the blaze. Since then, she’s suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and has put her life and career in research on hold to help the community.

She says, “One of my most vivid memories from that night is standing and watching someone high in the tower flashing their light on and off, desperately signalling they were still alive. I’ve never felt so useless, and vowed to do everything I could to help.

“I’m just one of many in the community who won’t rest until we see justice. We feel the council has to be held accountable for what happened, for those who died, the survivors and their families. Many people in the surrounding area are severely traumatised and aren’t getting the help they need, either, so I’ve devoted the last year to attending local meetings, helping people to find out what support there is and how they can get it.

“Many of us still have terrible nightmares. If I hear words associated with fire, I immediately see the tower ablaze again in my mind. It still looms over everything – like a cemetery in the sky. Part of me wants it to stay there, so no one with authority will ever forget and won’t make the same mistakes again. But it’s hard for everyone to see that blackened skeleton day in, day out.”