Susanna Reid became visibly emotional as she spoke to the uncle of a Grenfell victim on Good Morning Britain. Manny Ruiz appeared on the programme to chat to the presenter and her co-host Richard Madeley as they marked the fifth anniversary of the tragedy.
He joined David Badillo in the ITV studio, who was the first firefighter onto the scene on that fateful night as Manny spoke about losing his 12-year-old niece Jessie in the horror tower block blaze which claimed the lives of 72 men, women and children in west London.
David and Manny were friends, and it wasn't until later it was discovered that Jessie who was one of the people David was tasked with trying to get out of the burning building on the night of June 14, 17.
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Jessie was expected to be on the 20th floor of the block but the young girl headed towards the top of the building to try and escape the flames and ended up being trapped inside.
"After setting up the bridgehead, I went downstairs to get my breathing apparatus," David said of arriving to Grenfell Tower. "As I was making my way to the fire engine I met - who I didn't know at the time - was Manny's niece, Jessie's older sister, who told me her little sister was in the building in the 20th floor.
"At this time I hadn't been outside so I didn't know how much the fire had escalated. Jessie's sister wanted to come with me so I said, 'Stay there, I'll go up, quickly get your sister.'"
As he detailed what he did next, the 'trouble' he realised he was in and his horror at seeing the block alight when he went outside to collect equipment, David added of Jessie: "Heartbreakingly she had gone up to escape the smoke and she went up to the top of the building."
"I can see how hard it is to hear…" Susanna said, clearly moved as she and Richard spoke to the pair. "it’s hard for me and all I did was report on it here in the studio."
The 51-year-old continued: "I can’t imagine how hard it is for you to listen, I know you’re friends you and David, and David at the time, you didn’t realise you were looking for your friend’s niece. But to find out someone was in the building trying to get Jessica back and she’d done what she thought was the safe thing to do, meant she was getting further into danger. It’s just hideous."
Susanna called David and Manny 'remarkable' for being able to speak with 'such courage' about the tragedy which will be remebered with a series of memorial events today (June 14). "I admire you both for it," she told the show's guests. "We are so grateful that you’re able to talk about it, it is so important."
The Grenfell Tower community is to come together in memory of those who died and mourn the losses that “remain heavy in our hearts”, five years on from the deadliest domestic blaze since the Second World War. A memorial service will be held at Westminster Abbey on Tuesday morning, where the names of the victims will be read out, and tributes paid.
Roses will be laid on the Innocent Victims’ Memorial, and an abbey bell will toll 72 times. Members of the Grenfell Next of Kin group, which represents those bereaved by the tragedy, said they do not want their loved ones’ deaths to have been in vain.
