We’ve seen your dad on TV . . . he’s alive! How son learned blind father survived tower inferno
The family of a blind pensioner who was pictured waving for help from Grenfell Tower thought he was dead – until a friend spotted him on TV.
elpie Bonifacio became known as ‘the man in the window’ as haunting images emerged of him trapped in his 11th floor flat.
he had already phoned his family on the ground to say his goodbyes – and after the line cut out they feared he had perished in the inferno. But as pictures of the desperate pensioner were broadcast across the nation they realised he was still alive.
Yesterday his son Gordon Bonifacio told how they were finally reunited in hospital after his father, who is in his 70s, was rescued by firefighters.
he said: ‘At that point, before the images were shown, we had kind of given up.
‘On the phone he had already said his goodbyes. he said that the fire was here, that these were his last words.
‘We were all distraught. Then the phone line cut out. That’s the point you sort of lose hope.’ hours later, as Gordon scoured shelters in the vain hope of finding his father, his phone went ‘crazy’ with friends saying they had spotted him on television.
‘everyone was getting in touch who was at home watching the images, saying, “Is this him, this is him, this is him”,’ he told Good Morning Britain yesterday. ‘I took the images on my phone to one of the policemen nearby. I said: “Look, this is my dad”. They got on the radio to the fire brigade, took his name and flat number. ‘Still then, we were not 100 per cent sure he was safe until much, much later that at the hospital. That was the point that we were relieved to see him.’ Mr Bonifacio is said to be ‘traumatised’ and is still recovering in hospital.
The devastating fire that started at the 24- storey tower last Wednesday killed at least 79 residents.
Mr Bonifacio, who had lived there for 36 years, was put in an induced coma after his rescue but was taken off a ventilator on Saturday. he is said to be ‘incoherent and traumatised’ and does not realise the full extent of the tragedy.
Gordon said his mother and brother are in temporary accommodation and are still waiting for news about where they will eventually live.
Anger continued to mount last night over Kensington council’s ‘chaotic’ handling of the fire disaster amid reports of survivors sleeping rough and being denied cash because of confusing forms. The response effort was branded ‘appalling’ with people still ‘running around like headless chickens’ by the area’s new Labour MP emma Dent Coad.
A spokesman for the Grenfell response team said it was working hard to make sure all residents had homes.