[Image: A grainy picture of an Indian man who is waving]
Part 27 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
Joseph Daniels, from the 16th floor of Grenfell Tower
Joseph Daniels was 69 years old and suffered from dementia.
He was from Lucknow in India, and the son of a brigadier. In younger life he served in the Indian air force, and then worked in security at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
He was a Christian who loved music, bodybuilding, and Elvis
Presley. He married a woman called Lucy Daniels, and although they eventually divorced he had one son with her, Sam. Sam became his full-time carer after the dementia took hold, and was with him the night the fire started. Unfortunately, due to the nature of his father’s condition, Sam couldn’t get him out of the building. He alerted firefighters, but the firefighters didn’t find him. Sam said at the inquiry that he believed the firefighters got lost on the way to his father’s flat owing to the council not labelling the floors of Grenfell Tower correctly. “He never stood a chance of getting out. It should never have happened,” he said.
A letter exists on the internet which appears to be from Lucy Daniels, regarding the funeral of her ex-husband:
“The Service was simple and beautiful and Sam was able to
bestow dignity on his father which the horror of his death in Grenfell Tower had tried to rob from him.”
Before any funerals, while Joe was still listed amongst the missing, Sam’s uncle Patrick Smyth wrote a letter to the Irish Times condemning the lack of care which led to the Grenfell fire.
Why no fire breaks on the walls? Why were no internal or
external sprinklers installed in the £10 million refurbishment? Was the latter just a cosmetic exercise? Why did the central alarms not work? Why no second staircase? And no floor numbering on the stairs?
We join demos at the town hall and in Westminster, a mix of
inchoate, justifiable local rage at the unnecessary tragedy and ritual chants of “May out”, somehow tone deaf to what these people need now. But people feel the need to do something.
My sister, Sam’s mum, a one-time leader of the Grenfell tenants, hums again and again an old family favourite about the Titanic: “But the dirty cowards hid and denied the things they did. It was sad, it was sad when that great ship went down…”
[Image: A young black boy in a blue checked shirt, who is looking directly at the camera]
Part 26 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
Isaac Paulos, from the 18th floor of
Grenfell Tower
Isaac Paulos was five years old, one of the youngest victims of the fire, and the only one of his family to die. His hand slipped from his father’s as the family ran to safety, and he didn’t make it.
He loved football, swimming and taekwondo, his family said of him, and “did everything with passion and joy.” He was studious, too – he spoke two languages, English and Amharic, and “wouldn’t leave his seat without finishing his homework.” His teacher recalled that he was very good at maths. “He was a shining star who not only had the intellectual capacity but the emotional maturity that could take him far in
life.”
After he was identified as a victim his family released a statement saying,
“We will all miss our kind, energetic, generous little boy.
He was such a good boy who was loved by his friends and family.
“We will miss him forever, but we know God is looking after him now and that he is safe in heaven.”
One of his young friends gave a letter to be read out at Isaac’s funeral, which said a similar thing. “Isaac can still play in heaven with the other children.” Isaac loved his friends, one of his teachers said at the inquiry.
“He was very caring with his friends. He was tying a superman cape around the neck of one of them and said ‘I can’t tie it too tight because it’s dangerous’ and I thought that was so caring for a little boy.”
His father, Paulos Tekle, spoke about him at the Grenfell inquiry and also spoke of his anger over the fire brigade’s “stay put” policy which caused them to stay in their flat.
“My son was beautiful, a little boy with so much potential. I will never forget Isaac’s big beautiful eyes, his calm-looking wait for his Dad to save them all. But I didn’t, because I listened to the authorities and that makes me angry.
“Are we not human? I have to live with the guilt of not protecting my son every day. I am broken and now the only thing that can make me whole again is to fight for the truth and justice in Isaac’s name, and for
my living son and their mother.”
Part 25 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
Hamid Kani, from the 15th floor of
Grenfell Tower
61-year-old Hamid Kani came from Tehran in Iran. He
journeyed to Britain in the ‘70s, but always planned to move back to Iran one day. He loved cooking and acting, and had played small roles in Iranian plays which were critical of the government. This led to his being blacklisted, preventing him from returning to Iran for a while. He was eventually able to go back there a few times but always returned to Britain and Grenfell Tower. After the fire, he was among the victims found in the room of Raymond “Moses” Bernard.
His family released a statement after his body was identified:
“Hamid will always be remembered for his wit, compassion and devotion to his family and friends.
No words can express our sorrow for his loss and the way he left us.
“He will always be part of our lives and his memory will live on.”
His cousin, Masoud Shahabedin, later told The Guardian about
him and the talks they used to have:
“Every time we’d talk for 50 minutes, we would talk about Iran, our childhood, politics and the things he would read online. He spent a great deal of time on the internet, which was his biggest support.
“He was happy with Grenfell. He had lived there for more than 20 years; his flat gave him peace. He didn’t complain much in his life, he was an easygoing person. He’d live for today. He would give us a sense of
peace, he’d give us his smile and I miss him a lot.”
“Gary Maunders was extremely family-oriented; he loved his kids and mother dearly and was very fond of his nieces and nephews. Not a day passed where he wouldn’t talk to his mother or kids. Every evening he’d call to ask how their day had been and if they were okay.
Gary had a big heart. He would help anybody in need and was very giving. He was an old-school gentleman: caring, respectful, knowledgeable, charming and witty. He would always say “good morning” to the older generation and offer to help
them with their shopping trolleys or bags.
As a young boy, Gary had the potential to become a professional footballer, after he got scouted by Arsenal. He wouldn’t fail to mention this nearly every time a match was on. But funnily enough, he later became a huge Manchester United supporter. He always said he never fulfilled his dream to be a footballer because of ‘being young and chasing the women’ as he put it, and he became a painter and decorator instead.”
Gary loved Martin Gaye, the inquiry heard, and in the video tribute his nieces played for the audience “What’s Going On” was heard in the background.
Gary had two children, 15 and 10.
“He loved his mum and kids, he loved them dearly. He’d always check in on them daily, to see if they were alright and to say that he loved them. They were his world.
“He wanted the best for everyone, always told the younger kids of the family to behave and do well in school. Heart of gold our uncle had.
“We truly miss him. It’s as if a massive chunk of our hearts has been ripped out of us.
“Sometimes there are no words to describe such feelings.
“He will always be remembered and carried on in memory. We hope he is at peace and continuing on up in heaven doing what he does best. Forever loved. Justice4Grenfell.”
[Image: A white blonde woman in a grey top with skyscrapers behind her]
Part 23 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
Deborah Lamprell, from the 16th floor of Grenfell Tower
Deborah Lamprell, 45, worked front of house at Opera Holland Park. She was very close to her mother, who described her as “a wonderful,
precious daughter, always smiling and helping others”. She was her parents’ only child, and a football fan who loved cheering on Tottenham Hotspur with her father before he passed away. One of her friends, Gary Maunders, was staying with her the night the fire broke out, and sadly he died too.
Her boss at the opera house remembered her at the inquiry:
“She knew everyone; all the singers knew her, all the orchestra knew her. Everyone loved her because she was so chirpy, and she remembered things. She’d ask after someone’s mum, or their children.”
Deborah’s parents often visited her at Grenfell Tower, but
sometimes found it difficult to reach her floor because of the broken lifts. Her mother said,
“She loved her flat and she kept it lovely but the refurbishment became a nightmare. She had problems with the electricity, problems with the heating. She was very upset about having the boiler in the corridor right when you opened the front door. But I used to think at least when I go she’s got a roof over her head.
She would have me over to stay with her often for a week at
at time. But recently as my legs got worse it was difficult to visit. The
problems with the lifts made it not very nice to be in there when Debbie was at work, because you couldn’t get out easily.”
Deborah also had issues with the plumbing in her flat and the general bad conditions, her friend and co-worker Selina James told The Guardian.
Selina also told the publication about Deborah’s love for
her job:
“Debbie loved coming here. She made friends with everyone, including
patrons. But she was like me. We didn’t have opera backgrounds. I’m more into calypso, soca, carnival. We got to love it. That’s why we kept coming back.”
Opera Holland Park held a memorial and charity performance for Deborah and all the victims of Grenfell, which is available to watch on the internet.
Deborah’s mother Miriam told the Grenfell inquiry that at her daughter’s funeral, a friend approached her and said, “You would not
believe how much people loved her.”
Part 22 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
Eslah Elgwahry, from the 22nd floor of Grenfell Tower
There’s no picture of her unfortunately. Eslah Elgwahry came
to the UK from Egypt in the 1980s, and settled down in Grenfell Tower. She had lived there for 30 years at the time she passed away, been married, but lost her husband to cancer.
Her daughter Mariem, who cared for her, also died in the fire.
The one surviving member of the family, Ahmed Elgwahry, said that Mariem would not have wanted to leave her mother. He heard both their last moments over the phone the night of the fire, but the details are very distressing. After he was able to read them out to the Grenfell inquiry, he received a round of applause for his bravery.
He paid a tribute to Eslah, who was 64, at the Grenfell inquiry:
“My mum touched many hearts and was a strong woman who raised Mariem and I on her own since my father passed. She was very youthful, both inside and out. She was also a great authentic Egyptian cook.
“She loved to cook for people including neighbours, friends and family. We all loved her cooking and we always remember and miss the taste of her food.”
He also said the fire had been caused by, “a complete catalogue of failures across the spectrum that resulted in the loss of life in the most horrifying way possible.”
[Image: A smiling woman with a sunflower behind her]
Part 21 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
Mariem Elgawahry, from the 22nd floor of Grenfell Tower
Mariem Elgwahry, 27, was embarking on a career in marketing when she
died. She had a degree in business management and was rising up
the ranks in the company Quidco. Just hours before she died, she had booked an interview for another job she wanted.
Mariem enjoyed sports and challenges, and had once completed
an endurance course even after suffering an asthma attack. She also loved
tennis, and after she died the club where she played dedicated a bench to her. She adored her family – she cared for her mother Eslah in their shared flat, and was a doting aunt to her nephew. She had also long mourned the death of her father, who died of cancer when she was still a child.
The one surviving member of the family, Ahmed Elgwahry, delivered extremely distressing testimony to the Grenfell inquiry about his
sister’s and mother’s final moments. On losing them, he said, he “felt like my father died again and a large part of our life, important memories were wiped out, erased in a matter of minutes.”
Mariem, he said, might have been able to escape the fire but
had instead chosen not to leave their mother behind. She was, he said, “beautiful, an ambitious, talented young woman who wanted to succeed in her marketing career and start a family.”
“My sister was confident and strong. She wasn’t afraid to
speak up or speak her mind and was very secure in her words. She had an inner confidence and had grown into a strong and ambitious woman.”
Along with Nadia Choucair, Mariem had protested the poor conditions in Grenfell Tower. Both women were threatened with legal action for doing so.
“There was the misconception that those living [in Grenfell] were uneducated and should be simply grateful for living in the Royal Borough
of Kensington,” Ahmed said.
(Rabia) with her arm around her son (Hamid) who is next to her husband (Kamru). Image 2: A smiling man (Hanif) next to a smiling woman (Husna)]
Part 20 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
The Begum family, from the 17th floor of Grenfell Tower
Husna, Hanif and Hamid Begum reportedly told relatives over the phone that they couldn’t bear to leave the building without their elderly
parents, Rabia and Kamru. They all died in the same flat.
One of their cousins, Samir Ahmad, talked about them to The Times. He mentioned that Kamru had disabilities, a fact that also came up in the inquiry when his son questioned why he had been placed on the 17th floor.
“Their dad could barely walk anyway. What were they going to do? Abandon him?…Hats off to them. They didn’t show cowardice. They stayed with their mum and dad.
“Family was so important to them. They lived together and they died together.”
Husna was due to get married the next month. “The last time
I saw her, all she could talk about was the wedding. Everything was arranged, all the invitations were sent. She was looking forward to it, getting married to the person that she loves,” her cousin Abdul Khan said.
Husna worked at Carphone Warehouse and was 22 years old when she died. Her one surviving brother, Mohammed Hakim, paid tribute to her:
“She marvelled at the universe and had a burning desire to travel and experience as much of the world as possible. Husna was an intellectual and often indulged in creative writing and studying history. She was an amazingly good cook too; she could make any kind of dish or dessert and it would always come out delicious and right the first time. If you ever ate her cooking, you would always ask to eat more.”
He paid tribute to his brothers too. About 27-year-old Hamid
he said:
“His fun-loving personality always shone through, even when
he wasn’t feeling his best … He loved living, he wanted to do so much not just for himself, but for everyone around him.
He was very mature for his age, and wise … How quickly he was taken away. The world has lost a magnificent soul.”
And about Hanif:
“Hanif was an extremely passionate person when it came to
faith and God, as well as helping others in need. Hanif has always been
extremely creative from a young age. He was brilliantly talented in drawing and design, and adored animation. He would often create his own animations or create beautiful pictures for our whole family.”
The Begum parents, Rabia and Komru, both came from Sylhet in Bangladesh. Rabia was social, friendly, and a good cook. “She was the most
beautiful, generous, caring and loving mother anyone could ever ask for,” her surviving son said. “Most of all, she was my mum.”
Two of Komru’s sons, Mohammed Hakim and a son from his first
marriage, Sujon Miah, spoke about their memories of him. “My father was an amazing father, a dedicated husband and a good Muslim who prayed five times daily, and a family man,” Momammed Hakim said. “He loved watching a lot of nature programmes as well as a lot of action movies – anything with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Lee, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and Jet Li were among his favourites.”
Sujon Miah described him as a man who, “had done plenty for
the local community. He donated hefty amounts to build mosques and orphanages in the area, supported many families within the clan in distress. He was a deeply religious person, I never saw him missing any prayer.”
The whole family were deeply religious, people who knew them said. Due to the manner in which they died and the need for investigation, their funerals were even more difficult than they might have been. After the funeral of Husna and Rabia, cousin Abdul Rahim spoke of his anger.
“We want to know why no fire brigade hoses could reach
beyond the lower floors or why cranes weren’t used to rescue people. Why won’t the authorities admit how many people died? Why didn’t they make the building safe? Why weren’t they there to help us?”
And at the inquiry, Mohammed Hakim spoke of his grief:
“As a result of this fire not only did I lose five members of my immediate family, but I have also been made an orphan.
I can say with my hand on my heart that I’m extremely proud of my family for staying close to each other in their last moments. That my siblings did not leave my parents behind even though they may have had the chance to escape.
My parents had mobility issues. My father had strokes, he should not have been on the 17th floor, we complained about this numerous times.
[Image 1: A smiling man looking away from the camera. Image 2: A woman holding a young child. Image 3: Three smiling girls aged between 3 and 13]
Part 19 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
The Choucair family, from the 22nd floor of Grenfell Tower
Three generations of the Choucair family died at Grenfell Tower. These were parents Nadia and Bassem, children Fatima, Zaynab and Mierna,
and grandmother Sirria. (There doesn’t seem to be a picture of her unfortunately.)
One of the most circulated images of the Grenfell fire was a woman leaning out of a window waving a flag. It later transpired that this was Nadia.
The 33-year-old was a nursery school worker whose pupils adored her. She ran an after-school cooking club that was constantly overcrowded, and loved to chat to and play games with the children. Her three daughters attended that same school, Avondale.
The oldest daughter, 13-year-old Mierna, was one of the deputy head girls. (Another was Firdaws Hashim, who also died.) Her teacher described her as “an exceptional role model who always gave 100%”. She loved pop music, excelled in literacy classes, and designed costumes for the school’s World Book Day. She wanted to be either a doctor or a lawyer, her uncle told
the Grenfell inquiry.
Her young cousin Yasmeen paid a tribute to her:
I miss you. I miss the times when we used to play together. I miss the times when you used to protect and defend me like a big sister would. Now that you have left, I haven’t got a big sister any more.
I miss you so, so much. I miss when we used to go on trips and after-school clubs together. You broke my heart when you left. I never got a chance to say goodbye. I miss you very, very much.
I will do anything just to get my big sister back. Love you loads.
Middle child Fatima, 11, loved to play sports. She was more
mischievous than her sister, but was described by her teacher as “extremely polite and a pleasure to know” She had a close-knit group of friends who she spent all her time with, and played for the school football team.
Yasmeen paid a tribute to her, too:
I miss you. I miss the sound of your voice in my ears. I miss when we used to play together and have fun. I remember all the games that we used to play. You’re the best.
I love you so, so much and I miss you a lot. I will never ever forget you. I miss the way you smile, how it brightened up my day – my world.
When you left, my heart has been shattered into millions of pieces. Each piece of my broken heart is being crushed every time. With every piece being blown around by pain that I feel for you. I miss you. I miss you so, so much.
The youngest daughter was Zaynab, who was just three years old. She began attending her mother’s nursery just a month before she died.
“She had endless questions she wanted us to answer, and I wish we could have helped her find the answers to many more,” her nursery teacher said at the inquiry.
Their father, Marks & Spencer store worker Bassem, died alongside them. He loved his wife very much, friends remembered, and was a funny
and generous person. His sister-in-law Sawson Choucair released a statement to the Grenfell inquiry talking about him.
“Bassem was working on terrible pay in restaurant so I got him a job at M&S where I worked. He was quickly promoted and very strict with staff. But he made work fun for me.
During the fire Bassem said everything would be alright, because he was trained in fire safety.”
She went on,
“Everything has been taken away from me: my mum, my sister,
the brother-in-law that I worked with every day, and my nieces. I lost
everything I owned. This should not have happened. We do not want excuses. We demand justice for every single family. We are broken.”
Hisam Choucair, Nadia’s brother and Sirria’s son, also read out a statement. His mother, he said, “was a proud, devout woman, who never
said a bad word about anyone. She was kind and caring and I will miss her for ever.” She was determined that all her children received an education, too. “Because she had not had the opportunity, she wanted it for us.” Sirria worked at the Royal Marsden hospital. But she had arthritis, her son said, and could barely leave the building because of the condition of the Grenfell lifts. Hisam had never trusted the condition of the high-rise:
“No bank would give [Nadia and Bassem] a mortgage as soon as
they found out they were on the 22nd floor. This led me to believe that the banks were aware of something within high rise social housing that we were not aware of.”
Nadia and Mariem Elgwahry, who also died, protested the conditions
of Grenfell Tower before the fire claimed 72 lives. Reportedly, they were
threatened with legal action for raising complaints.
[Image: A white-haired man looking thoughtfully at the camera]
Part 18 of a series of posts honoring the Grenfell Tower victims.
Hesham Rahman, from the 23rd floor of Grenfell Tower
Hesham Rahman, 57, loved living in Grenfell Tower. “He was so proud of that flat,” his nephew Karim Mussilhy said of him. Like many people he made a final phone call from the tower – he called his mother to tell her he would be okay. But sadly, he died.
His nephew has written articles speaking of his anger at what happened to him.
“Later we learned he didn’t make it out of the tower. He had trouble
walking and often used a walking stick so would have struggled to make it down the stairs from the top floor.
He tragically died alone in his flat and many others perished that night
in the tower. He was identified on 25 August and finally laid to rest on 30
September.
The Grenfell Tower fire has broken the hearts of our close community but above all it has united us in the fight for justice, to make sure that a
tragedy of this scale will never happen again.”
He also spoke out at, and about, the Grenfell inquiry:
“However, I was very mindful about censorship, as the inquiry asked for transcripts of what the families and survivors were going to say beforehand. Some families were asked to change certain words and sentences – to avoid naming companies or for being too political or straying too far from tributes to our loved ones.
So what did I do? I went off-script from the transcript I had shared. My point was: why are we having this public inquiry? This is the relatives’ time to talk. I thought they were giving us the right to pay tribute, not controlling what we would say. Our families have been torn apart for ever and our lives will never be the same. If someone wants to stand up there and say that we were failed and neglected, then that is their right. The fact is, our relatives are being remembered now because they were left to die.”
Hesham was a friendly and generous joker, Karim said. “I remember him teaching me how to write and read Arabic and always stuffing my pockets with chocolates and sweets… He could see the Westway football pitches from his flat where I regularly played and he would sometimes watch me and message me after playing making fun of how rubbish I was.”
