14 Jul This Is What The Victims Of Grenfell Tower Are Going Through One Month Later

The events of the early hours of 14 June 2017 are, by this stage, well-documented. The horrifying inferno, believed to have been started by a faulty refrigerator, is said to have burnt about 80 people alive and injured many more. While at first spectators hung onto every piece of brand new information, of course now a month after the disaster, interest has dwindled somewhat and news outlets have moved onto other big day-to-day stories.

However, while the general British public lick their hypothetical wounds and move forward, hundreds of former residents of Grenfell Tower and survivors of the terrifying blaze are left to deal with the aftermath of the catastrophe; some having lost their whole families, all having lost the place they called home and every single one of them fixed with the knowledge that the disaster could, and should have, been avoided. Buzzfeed spoke to the people trying to rebuild their lives four weeks on from the fire, the eye-opening interviews shedding a much-needed light on what exactly life is like after the devastating inferno.

1. Forced to walk past the remains of Grenfell to seek support

Former Grenfell resident Paul Menacer told Buzzfeed of how survivors are forced to walk past the burnt-out building in order to receive support from the Grenfell assistance centre at the Westway Sports centre, saying: “I got a phone call saying that they were going to put me in a hotel, but for community support I would need to go to the Westway – but why do we need to go to the Westway? We’re the victims. They know where we are, but we have to walk past reminders of the fire.”

2. Insomnia

Many victims haven’t been able to sleep for four weeks. Paul described how difficult he found it to get some rest, stating: “You can’t sleep. The doctor tried to give me all these tablets and stuff but you’re very anxious and not really wanting to take them because, obviously, what happened with the fire… You’re anxious that the fire alarms won’t go off, or something might happen and you might not wake up.”

3. Unsure about the future

Before the fire, Paul was a career-driven young man, working towards a career in civil engineering, but now the fire has happened he feels convinced that this won’t be the case. He said: “I would’ve had very big prospects in life, but I just don’t feel like that now. I had my whole career ahead of me. I was doing well. If I told you some of the things that people said about my progression… But now I don’t know if it’s going to happen and I don’t feel like it’s going to happen.”

4. Marked out as victims

Paul also told Buzzfeed of how the victims have been given colour-coded wristbands in order to identify themselves while accessing services. In spite of the good intentions, this has only served to make survivors feel like they’re being marked out and stared at. He said: “Why is it that the survivors have to wear a red or a green one on certain days? It makes me feel like we’re cattle or something. By wearing this thing round your arm everyone knows which ones are from Grenfell Tower and which ones aren’t. I don’t agree with that. It’s degrading and I’m not wearing it.”

5. Too traumatised to leave their hotels

Kimberly Williams has been staying in a four-star hotel since the fire forced her out of her home next to the tower, but is so traumatised by the events that she has only left her room twice in four weeks. She has been offered a property in a basement by the council, but refused it, saying: “I’m afraid of the basement. I just want to be on a normal floor, because what if there’s a fire above me?”

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