HE NEVER GOT OVER IT
John, 70, dies just months after escaping flat blaze which destroyed his home
FLAT fire survivor John Hunter has passed away, two months after escaping the blaze that destroyed his home.
The 70-year-old and his wife Linda were lucky to survive after thick black smoke engulfed their Gateshead flat when a wheelie bin outside was set alight.
Firefighters had to force their way into the property and carry John and Linda to safety when the blaze broke out in September.
The inside of the flat, in Teams, which had been the couple’s home for 45 years, was devastated by the smoke.
John and Linda had been looking forward to moving into a new property on the estate, after being told their former home was uninhabitable.
But John passed away last week after a short battle with lung cancer that had been previously undiagnosed.
And today, as Linda starts to come to terms with her loss, she has told The Chronicle of her sadness that the final months of John’s life were blighted by flashbacks from the terrifying fire.
The 67-year-old said: “John never got over the fire, he was always crying. I got over it in about a week, but John cried every time I mentioned it. It’s just so cruel that that happened during his final months.
“Everybody just can’t believe it. He was so well-liked and so witty.”
Linda and John were at their flat on Marian Court when a wheelie bin outside was set alight on the evening of September 10.
The Chronicle told how Linda, who was in bed at the time, was woken by the sound of smoke alarms and found her room filled with thick black smoke.
As it dawned on her what was happening she desperately tried to cover her mouth with a pillow
I got over the fire in about a week, but John cried every time I mentioned it
Linda Hunter
before she was overcome by smoke.
Meanwhile fire crews, who had already been called by a neighbour, attempted to rescue John, who had been in another room, by pulling him through a window.
But the gap was too narrow so firefighters forced their way into the flat and carried unconscious Linda and her husband to safety.
The couple’s terrier, Ringo, had also been rescued from the flat.
John and Linda spent six days in hospital recovering from the effects of breathing in smoke before being discharged.
But their flat and most of their possessions were destroyed.
Unable to return to their marital home, Linda and John were putup at the Premier Inn Hotel on the Team Valley, while The Gateshead Housing Company found them somewhere to live.
The couple had been looking forward to moving into a new flat on the Teams when John took ill four weeks ago and was admitted to hospital.
It was discovered he was suffering from lung cancer and he passed away on Monday, November 18.
Doctors said they did not believe John’s death was related to the fire, but Linda told The Chronicle he never properly recovered.
“After the fire they checked our X-rays and gave us both the allclear,” she said. “But when I was in hospital I was drinking lots of fluid because you have got to flush your system out, but John didn’t.”
Linda moved in to her new home while former Rolls Royce worker John was in hospital, and she is now coming to terms with losing her home and her husband in the space of just two months.
“I’m settled in here now, but it does feel really strange being here by myself. I have got my dog back, though,” she said.
“I have met my neighbours and they are lovely, and I have got a very close family and they are looking after me. I’m all right at the moment.”
And Linda, who previously worked at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s laundry, has also been back to her old home to see what she can salvage.
She said: “It’s black. When I got upstairs I just couldn’t breathe. “I think the settee is ruined.” John’s funeral will be held at 1pm on December 6 at Saltwell Crematorium followed by a wake at the Teams and District Social Club.
Northumbria Police arrested a 50-year-old man in connection with the fire.
He was initially released on bail but has since been told he will not be charged.