[Image: A woman in a straw hat and electric blue jewellery, looking at the camera]
Part 38 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
Maria del Pilar Burton, from the 19th floor of Grenfell Tower
Spainish health worker Maria del Pilar Burton, known to all
as Pily, did not die in the tower but passed away many months later from
complications caused by the fire. She shared her flat with her husband Nick, whom she met in a Spanish disco and remained married to for over three decades. They also had a pet dog, Lewis, which did not survive the fire. Pily suffered from dementia, and according to her husband it got worse when Grenfell Tower was refurbished.
“Of course the stress and problems related to the refurbishment of the tower made everything worse… the stress was upsetting and a terrible thing for Pily to take, and all I could do was to make her feel secure.”
After she passed away in January 2018, having been in hospital ever since the fire, her husband released a statement:
“My beautiful wife Maria Del Pilar, known to everyone as
Pily, passed away on January 29.
“Pily was well known in our community, she was what people call a real character. A character in the best sense of the word – she was flamboyant, colourful, passionate and friendly.
“Everyone on Portobello knew her and when we went to the market on the weekend she would stop and chat all the way along.
“She had such a big heart. We were together for 34 years. She was the love of my life.”
Among her friends was Sirria Choucair, who also died in the
fire.
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Sources
Grenfell Tower, three years on | Overly Devoted Archivist
June 14, 2020 @ 11:54 am
[…] KingDeborah LamprellAmna Mahmud IdrisGary MaundersMary MendyLigaya MooreDenis MurphyIsaac PaulosMaria del Pilar BurtonSteven PowerHesham RahmanKhadija SayeAbdeslam SebbarShelia SmithGloria TrevisanMohamednur TuccuAmaya […]