Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
We lost our home & our friends...we feared we would lose our baby too
PROUD mum Maryam Adam believes her baby boy is the youngest survivor of the Grenfell Tower disaster.
But she feared little Mohammed would never arrive after she was left severely traumatised by the inferno, which killed 71 people.
Having already suffered two miscarriages, she witnessed unimaginable horror as her home was destroyed and her neighbours and friends perished before her.
Maryam said: “We lost our home, we lost friends, we lost everything.
“I was so worried I was going to have another miscarriage. We saw
everything. I had many friends there.”
But she told the Mirror her son’s arrival in November had given her and husband Abdulwahab, 41, a reason to smile again.
Maryam added: “He is a miracle. “When I first saw his face I was so, so happy. I think he is the youngest survivor. I will tell him when he is older - I will tell him to thank God that he’s alive.”
But despite the joy of having her child by her side, the memories of that night are hard to shake off.
Maryam was three months pregnant when the blaze broke out in the 24-storey block in Kensington, West London, on June 14 last year.
She lived on the fourth floor and was one of the first to escape.
But Maryam is still haunted at being unable to help fellow residents, who screamed to be saved.
Fighting back tears, she said: “I saw everything from the beginning until the end.
“People were shouting, crying, asking for help - and you can’t do anything. So much happened in front of our eyes, too much. “I remember everything.” Maryam was sleeping when the blaze broke out at about 1am.
Abdulwahab woke her up after their neighbour, taxi driver Behailu Kebede, banged on their door.
Maryam said: “I saw a little bit of smoke from Flat 16’s kitchen.
“There was no fire alarm. I didn’t think it was too serious - I asked my husband to let me go back to bed as I was feeling unwell.
“But my husband was worried about my pregnancy so he took me down. My husband banged really loudly on the door of Flat 15 - they were new neighbours with kids.”
Together they made their way out of the burning building, not knowing the full gravity of the incident.
“I was worried about my pregnancy, so I let people pass me on the stairs,” Maryam recalled.
But once they were outside, everything changed.
“Outside, we waited, definitely less than 40 minutes, and it just
went up so quickly - it was like petrol had been put in it.”
Maryam could only watch in horror while firefighters fought to extinguish the flames as they swept up the building’s flammable cladding.
The following day, the couple were sent to a Premier Inn, where they lived for the next five months.
Maryam often slept on the sofa as she struggled with a slipped disc in her back.
She was only moved to a one-bed temporary flat at the end of September when she was eight months pregnant, and says she is still waiting for a suitable permanent home to be offered.
Having suffered a difficult pregnancy, Maryam was largely unaware of which of her friends were still alive.
Until just weeks ago, she thought a good friend was dead, having been too ill with her back complaint during her pregnancy to try to contact her.
She also had no way of getting in touch with friends initially as her phone was destroyed in the fire.
Maryam said: “I was so worried maybe she didn’t make it and I was looking for her. And now I found her and she’s alive. I’m so happy, but many others didn’t make it.”
Maryam also wanted to thank Mr Kebede, the man whose fridge freezer is thought to have started the blaze.
The last time she saw him was knocking on doors alerting neighbours.
She said: “I think he saved some lives. I haven’t seen him since and don’t know where he is, but I’d like to thank him.”
Maryam and her family are now desperate to move on with their lives in a place they can call home. She said: “I want to make a home for my child, but we are waiting. We don’t know when it will happen.”
Of 208 Grenfell households that needed to be rehomed, 54 have been found a permanent place.
Somalia-born Maryam, who arrived in London 20 years ago, added: “Lots of survivors, who started off very strong, are now depressed. Maybe more depressed than at the time of the fire, because their lives cannot get back to normal. “
Maryam has viewed accommodation arranged by the council, but claimed the properties did not fit her family’s needs.
However, the authority claimed the family accepted the offer of a permanent home “which they have accepted and is free for them to move into today”.
A spokesman added: “We’re doing everything humanly possible to ensure everyone directly affected by the Grenfell tragedy has a permanent home.”
Maryam disputed the claim of an offer and said she had yet to sign a tenancy.