124 | October• 2018
hands,andwiththeirchildonTa-
labi’sback,theywentoutthedoor
again.Thesmokedensityseemed
to have doubled, tripled from ear-
lier.AndTalabihadbeenconvinced,
earlier, it would kill them.
They missed the door to the stair-
well and had to retrace their steps.
They felt their way, blind, and once
inside the stairwell he found the
handrail. “We’re running [down]....
We’re tiring.... Every breath, you
know you’re taking in some-
thing dangerous.... And my child
behind me.” Talabi said that this was
the very worst of it: the sound his four
year old made as she tried to breathe.Ta labi looked at Rosema r y, t hen
their daughter, and he thought:Wow.
He no longer believed they would
get out.
Buthehadtotry.HegotRosemary
tohelphimtietheirdaughtertohis
back.Theplanwastogobackout
the window, this time with Talabi’s
daughter hitched to him. “We’re just
abouttogooutthewindowwhenthe
fire brigade opened the door and
theysaid...”Talabipaused.“Ican’t
remember the exact word they told
us.‘Run!’Or‘Go!’Or‘Escape!’”
It was their tone that convinced
him,“likeeitheryourunoryou
get burnt.” He and Rosemary clasped PHOT0: DOMINIC LIPINSKI/PA WIRE
DavidBadillo(right)stoodwiththebereaved,including
Ramiro Urbano, father of the missing 12-year-old Jessica, at a vigil near
the tower a few days after the ire