Our hero son saved family from blaze
GRANDSON STARTED RAGING FIRE BY ACCIDENT
BRITAIN’SBRITA Got Talent’s IanIa and Anne MarshallM have revealedvea how their son waswa nearly killed savingsa his family fromf a raging househ fire. The blaze was j just weeks before the knee- gyrating couple’s tr triumphant duet of Beyoncé’s Crazy In Love. Judge David Walliams was so i mpressed he pressed th the golden buzzer, putting themth straight into this week’ week’s live semi-finals. Their heroher son Tony, 41, saved the family but was admitted t to intensive care with smoke inhalation and burns down one side of his body.
The couple’s four-year-old grandson Ethan, who has attention deficit disorder, accidentally started the fire.
Belfast-based Anne, who served in the Women’s Royal Army Corps, said: “He got up at 5am, found his mum’s cigarette lighter and lit his own bed.
“The rest of them were asleep and didn’t know until smoke came into their room.” Anne, 61, said: “Tony saved them all and got out of the house before it burnt down but the entire top floor was gutted. Nothing but ashes were left.”
Ex Army chef Ian, 64, said Ethan was left uninjured: “We were very concerned about them and it was just before our first audition.
“Ethan’s getting treatment for his ADHD now and we gave Tony our living room furniture once his landlord had redone the house. He is fine now.” Ian said taking part in the semis was “a chance of a lifetime”. He has previously revealed he left home at 14 after being beaten by his alcoholic dad and was raped by two men while sleeping rough in Barnsley, South Yorks.
He said: “I could have lay down and died but I didn’t. You’ve got to get up and keep fighting. I’d say to people who have had hard times, always remember: tomorrow is a new day and never be too proud to ask for help.”
BGT’s first live semi-final, ITV, tonight, 7.30pm, results, 9.30pm.