Sarah's Story:

More than ten weeks on from the events at Grenfell, Sarah and her family have now moved back into their home. Their 11th floor living room window faces the charred remains of Grenfell and provides a daily reminder of this tragedy. It is no secret that there are still people unaccounted for who may still be in the Tower. This is bound to have a detrimental effect on anyone’s well being, let alone an eleven year old child. Her mother has made the decision to rearrange the family’s furniture to face away from the windows and the view has now been covered with a bed sheet. However, this is not a case of “out of sight, out of mind”. During adverse weather conditions, the family are once again evacuated as the shell of Grenfell visibly sways in the wind. Burnt debris regularly blows its way into the family’s home through open windows, which also exasperates the decaying burning smell radiating from the Tower. Sarah experiences regular night terrors and is still too scared to use the stairs in her block, as she is able to recall the accounts of those trapped in the stairwell during the fire. As families attempt to bring some normality back into their children’s lives, they are confronted by a sea of flowers, stuffed toys and messages left in the surrounding streets. Her school is situated just a few streets away from Grenfell. A high achieving student, she is finding it difficult to concentrate on her school work and her grades are suffering.