Grenfell survivor breaks down in tears recounting agonising moment medics were forced to choose between saving the life of his wife or child - as Cat Deeley steps in to comfort him on This Morning
A Grenfell survivor broke down in tears on This Morning as he recounted the agonising moment medics were forced to choose between saving the life of his wife or unborn child.
Marcio Gomes featured on Wednesday's instalment of the ITV show and sat down with journalist Peter Apps and presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard in an emotional interview.
The grieving father lived on the 21st floor of Grenfell Tower with his wife, who was seven months pregnant, and two daughters.
A fire broke out in the tower block on June 14, 2017 and spread throughout the building, leading to the loss of 72 lives.
Following the eight year anniversary of the tragic night, Marcio recalled what happened to his family and how his unborn son, Logan, sadly passed away as a result of the fire.
'I was woken at 1.15am in the morning with the neighbour banging on the door which I'm forever grateful because if it wasn't for that, we would've been sleeping,' Marcio recalled.
The grieving father lived on the 21st floor of Grenfell Tower with his wife, who was seven months pregnant, and two daughters
Cat explained how 'the fire brigade were told the 'stay put' rule, which is essentially you stay there for 2 hours'.
Marcio's family began preparing wet towels but eventually realised they needed to leave the flat and go against the fire brigade's advice.
'Probably about an hour into it I would say when I really understood how bad it was, we'd had fires in the tower before, not generally a problem,' he said.
'Of course that night it was very different,' he added.
An hour into it when I tried to go into my neighbours house and I opened the door it was pitch black, the lights were on but it was pitch black.
He described the 'really thick' smoke and added: 'It was awful, it was something I've never experienced before... as soon as you breathed that in you was just gagging, it was a horrific smell, it was something I can never really describe that well.
'That's when I knew it was really bad.'
After multiple calls to the fire brigade, the family and neighbour decided they would have to try and make their own way down.
They attempted to leave the flat twice but Marcio described the moment that made them realise they had to go.
'As I looked into the bedroom, fire came through the window and set basically the room alight. At that point I said we've got to go, it's now or never, we couldn't stay in the flat,' he said.
Cat looked emotional and she said: 'There was so much confusion at the time, you couldn't see anything, you were supposed to be behind the girls and you were taking them down and then you kind of lost them within the smoke.
'When you finally get to the bottom of the tower, you see each other again, you get taken into an ambulance but your wife, who is seven months pregnant and asthmatic, they have to make a terrible decision.'
Marcio broke down into tears as he replied: 'At the hospital, they came to me and said they and to make that decision because my wife was obviously alive, they had to go with her, which I said, yes, that's the choice.'
Cat leant forward to comfort Marcio and kindly pat his knee as she looked tearful too.
The blaze, which was the worst in Britain for more than a generation, was accelerated by deadly combustible cladding and many of those who died had been told to stay in their flats.
It resulted in the deaths of 72 men, women and children, including multiple generations of the same families, living in the 120-apartment tower, built in Kensington - one of London's richest areas.
The fire triggered mass protests about building standards, following months of concerns from Grenfell Tower residents about safety following its refurbishment.
The final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, published in September, concluded the disaster was the result of 'decades of failure' by government and the construction industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.
Ben read out a statement from The London Fire Brigade commission which said: 'On the night of the fire, the brigade faced the most formidable challenge that any fire service in the UK has confronted in living memory.
'In 2019 the brigade accepted every recommendation from the Grenfell Tower enquiry phase one report and have since implemented significant changes to how we operate.'
Ben then went on to read a statement from Arconic which said: 'Our thoughts remain with all those affected and their families and friends.
'Arconic architectural products along with others has made financial contributions to settlements for those impacted, we support all efforts to strengthen the regulatory oversight in the construction industry.'
Earlier this year, Angela Rayner revealed the apartment tower would be dismantled after concerns over damage, but this has been hit with backlash.
Ben also read a statement from the Government's Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government and said: 'We will deliver the change needed so this can never happen again by taking decisive actions to speed up the mediation through the remediation acceleration plan and deliver the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower enquiry.'
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV1 from 10am and is available to stream on ITVX.
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