He was going to be my little superstar, says tearful father of stillborn Grenfell fire baby
Holding his son in his arms for the first time was a moment that Marcio Gomes could barely wait for and should have been one of the happiest of his life. But instead, with his wife and two daughters still in a coma just hours after they had escaped the inferno of Grenfell Tower, he spent those precious moments holding his stillborn baby “hoping, wishing, praying that he would just open his eyes and make a sound”.
However, as he told the first day of evidence to the inquiry into the tragedy: “That never happened.”
The inquiry, which is expected to last into next year, began with a 72-second silence for the 72 victims before their loved ones began to “bring them to life again” amid tears, laughter and applause.
Sir Martin Moore-bick, the judge leading the inquiry, said: “The sight of the building engulfed in flame is indelibly printed on the memories of those who experienced an event of unimaginable horror.” But he added: “When we die, we live on in the memories of those who knew and loved us. It is fitting therefore that the opening hearings should be dedicated to the memory of those who died.”
Almost a year since the fire tore through the west London tower block on June 14, the memories proved that for those who lost their homes and their loved ones the pain is still as raw as ever.
Mr Gomes, flanked by his wife Andreia and their lawyers, was barely a sentence in to his tribute to his son, Logan Isaac, when he broke down.
Mrs Gomes was seven months’ pregnant at the time of the fire and Mr Gomes had “worked very hard” to prepare a nursery in their 21st-floor flat, complete with a “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, do you know how loved you are?” mural. As the words appeared on the screen behind him, the 38-year-old said: “Already we had so much planned for him in terms of adventures and what we would do
‘He looked so peaceful, so restful. He looked like he was just sleeping ... we felt like our hearts had broken’
‘We as a family feel strongly that there is no reason in the world why anyone should have death forced upon them in such a horrific way’
together.” He told how he had cried when they had a party and he found that his unborn baby was to be a boy, how they had planned to go to Disneyland this summer and how their two daughters, Megan, now 11, and Luana, now 13, had been arguing over what football team he would support. There was laughter as Mr Gomes said he had won the argument and that the boy would support his team, Benfica, in Portugal, and Liverpool in the UK.
Mr Gomes, who had planned for Logan to be his “future gaming buddy” and imagined how they would play on the computer side-by-side, added through tears: “He was going to be my superstar.” The room sat in silence as an image of the couple holding their stillborn son was shown on the large screens. Logan had been stillborn hours after the family had escaped, while his mother was still in a coma.
Mr Gomes said: “He looked so peaceful, so restful. He looked like he was just sleeping and, at that moment, we felt like our hearts had broken.”
The 500 capacity room in Kensington’s Millennium Gloucester Hotel broke into applause at the end of each tribute. Other residents were seen wiping away tears and comforting each other with a hand on the shoulder.
Farhad Neda, who along with his mother Flora were the only ones to make it out of the top floor alive, were moved as a standing ovation paid tribute to his father – Saber Neda – who he described as his “best friend and the man I admire most”.
He sat alongside his disabled mother, who he had carried down 24 flights of stairs to escape the fire, and Araf, his uncle, as their statements about the 57-year-old Afghan-born chauffeur were read.
The last phone call made by Mr Neda, who is believed to have stayed behind to help others before jumping from the building, was a message on his wife’s phone, which was played to the hearing. He said: “Goodbye, we are leaving this world now, goodbye. I hope I haven’t disappointed you. Goodbye to all.”
Saber’s brother, who drove from Leeds on the night of the fire to try to find him, said: “My brother was a hero. He gave up his life for his family and for others. He sacrificed himself in that fire in order to put others first.”
But the heart-wrenching stories revealed that it wasn’t just lives that were lost, but in some cases almost “every trace” of the victims. For the relatives of Denis Murphy, 56, a “recovered handful of coins” are all they have left, which his sister Anne-marie Murphy said are “so poignant to us, as he would give you his last pennies if you ever needed them.” She added: “Ever since Dennis has gone, there is a gaping hole in our hearts that can never be filled and it hurts, it really hurts, and we cannot imagine a day when it won’t hurt.
“The pain, loss and sorrow we feel is indescribable and has left us devastated... we as a family feel strongly that there is no reason in the world why anyone should have death forced upon them in such a horrific way.”
Tributes were also paid to Joseph Daniels, 69, by his son Samuel and to Mary Mendy and her daughter Khadija Saye, who shared a 20th floor flat.
David Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham, was seen wiping a tear as he joined Mary’s sister Betty and niece Marion Telfer as they paid tribute.
Mr Lammy was a friend of Ms Saye, 24, a young artist who had been on the cusp of a career breakthrough with her photographs on show in Venice as part of a collection on the theme of diaspora.
Tributes to victims are expected to last another eight days.
The hearing continues.