October• 2018 | 123Left:OluwaseunTalabiescapedtheirewithhiswifeandfour-year-old
child. Right: Jessica Urbano Ramirez, who lived on the 20th loor, was
one of the 72 victims of the irewhose face he recognised – some-
one whose unlikely escape from the
tower had been much talked about
by firefighters. Badillo went over and
introduced himself to Oluwaseun
Talabi,shakinghishandfiercely.
Talabihadbeenstayinginahotel
with his family since they’d left the
hospital,havingbeentreatedfor
smoke inhalation.
Talabiwaslastseenbyfirefighters
clinging to his bedroom window,
feetscrabbling,spent.Afterthat,Ta-
labi reported, the two Syrian broth-
ersinsidehisapartmentreachedout
anddraggedhimbackthroughthe
window.Oneofthosebrotherswas
nowdead.Hehadnotmadeitout.
Therewerethreeotherneighbours
who’dtakenshelterintheapartment
that night. They were dead, too.
PHOT0: ABC NEWS (TOP); ANA OSPINA/PA WIRE Back inside his apartment,
promised new homes by the council,
thoughtherewerefearsaboutwhat
andwherethesenewhomeswould
be.They’dbeenthroughshock,
grief, anger.
Nowthiscommunitywas,more
than anything, exhausted.
On July 19, survivors from Grenfell
attendedapublicmeetingatcouncil
headquarters.Somewereinvitedup
tothemainchambertospeak,but
the majority were put in a gallery
above. A group of exasperated sur-
vivorscausedaruckus,tryingtoget
downtothechamber.Eventually,
they,too,wereallowedtospeak
about their experiences.
DavidBadillowasupinthepublic
galleryatthemeeting,asaguestof
Jessica’sfamily.Later,Badillocircu-
lated outside the chamber, talking
to survivors. He noticed someone