MTTV archive: Summerland 41: survivor's story 31.7.2014

A moving interview with a survivor of the Summerland fire who remembers what happened on that night and having to, as a five year old girl, jump out of the burning building where 50 people died.
Isle of Man TV channel - produced by Paul Moulton for PMC-TV

[@danielmorse6597]

What a brave little girl and mother. She kept her head together. Saved them. Lucky parents. Lucky family.

[@98Tabster]

We were lucky to escape with our lives but we never stopped suffering, each in our own way. The guilt of surviving when others didn’t is hard to bear. I grew up being taunted because of disfiguring scars. My lovely Mum passed away last December. She never got over what happened. Her father was devastated. She was an only child. A few years after the fire when we ventured on holiday again there was a bomb in the seaside town. Mum got word to her parents that we were ok. When Grandad heard about the explosion he said oh no not again! He died 13 days later aged 60. I suffered terrible panic attacks after Summerland. There was no counselling. No diagnosis of PTSD. Writing Made in Summerland helped. Writing down the things I couldn’t say out loud was a kind of release. I had a stroke in 2018 and I’m now disabled. I’ve always been terrified of another fire and not being able to escape on time. It’s worse now because of my mobility issues. I know I’d never get out. There are two ways of looking at things. We were lucky to escape with our lives when so many died, but we were saved to suffer in different ways. I’ve never had one day since that’s been free from worry. But I don’t blame Summerland’s architects or the management or even the boys who deliberately set fire to the kiosk for what happened. It was a massive lesson and should have prevented other fires. Yet it seemed to have been largely forgotten.

[@silverstar1178]

@@98Tabster my heart goes out to you. Thank you for being willing to share your story.

[@98Tabster]

@@silverstar1178 thank you so much ❤️ xxx

[@stephanie4174]

@@98Tabster Ruth, I have just heard of Summerland in the last week or so after researching Grenfell Tower. I think my mum has mentioned it to me in the past but not the name. I have ordered your book Silence Of Summerland because it really is not well known enough! Much love to you, you are a survivor and what a woman too 🫶

[@blackjockofmangertonpele]

What an incredible and humble woman. She embodies such humility. ❤

[@davidpoulton2860]

What a wonderful lady she is, after all that happened to her back in 1973. Brave to tell us about that day.

[@ianinnes8063]

What a terrible ordeal that lady had to go through . Its something that never had have happend too many people werent given the full truth about the materials involved . My heart goes out to anyone invoved

[@antonchristian873]

I remember this so vividly, I was not involved in any way, but I know where I was and what I was doing when I heard about this horrible accident.

[@ajcurran100]

You can literally see her pain 😢

[@markperryman2311]

Twin girls in my school class (aged 10) perished alongside their older sister (12) and mother, I went to Glebe junior school Rayleigh, Essex. They lived in a house connected to the Rayleigh rail station, the father/ Husband survived , absolutely shocking, I walked to school with those girls....At the start of the new school term September '73 the kids assembly was such a sad occasion, teachers n kids crying.... I now live back in Rayleigh Essex, 5 minutes away from the house at Rayleigh Rail station, and my old junior school, a constant reminder of that awful tragedy, Ive been in contact with Ruth to help her with information about the fallen family, I couldn't imagine how the father coped losing his wife n 3 daughters, ........😞

[@Stevo_YouTube]

This woman's memory is incredible. I can barely remember anything from my childhood. She was 5?! Amazing.

[@skadilina8897]

Poor lady, but so strong

[@steuk6510]

I begin in a fire situation I am fire safety trained and a electrical fault happened in heater oil ones as fire alarm went off was very scared an i nearly 40 so a 5 year old would be scared I have a fire safety and emergency plan I do science and emergency medicine

[@Chardonbois]

What a harrowing account of this awful tragedy still being re-lived by this brave woman over 40 years later. You did nothing wrong. Be kind to yourself and I hope you find peace.

[@Toracube]

Peoples inner strength to survive always astonishes me.

[@brianmoore6306]

God bless you and your family. You have my heart.

[@jimleo3053]

It’s a shame that the Manx people never accepted that the disaster happened until only in the last decade. I lived there at the time, and people spoke of the disaster as a joke. I am glad to see that they finally demolished the smaller version of it and built a memorial but far too late in coming. Shame on the island.

[@mickontherock1]

There are no words xx

[@eddiejones.redvees]

Me and my family went to to the I.O.M in 1973 we went to show a in summerland when were in side my dad said there are no fire escapes in this place he always told us when you go in to a place look for the fire escape thankfully it is sum thing I have no at to use a week after week after we got home the disaster happened

[@notbigtony]

Poor girl 😭 so awful

[@patrickbigras9019]

I seen a documentary on this and this is the second survivor I heard first i heard was scary af :s and i was young so blocked it out

[@davemonday5381]

We should respect how strongly Femi and Owen Jones feel about the immigrants and put them on the same plain Job done.

[@ryanOGab]

Of corse she’s from Northern Ireland.🙄

[@98Tabster]

What do you mean by that?

[@GothicaBeauty]

@@98Tabster i was thinking that too. xXx

[@krugerfuchs]

Irish people are strong that's what it means and I'm a survivor of the abusive children's homes here we have been through a lot

[@98Tabster]

@@krugerfuchs I’m so sorry to hear that 😥 Yes we really are! We can overcome anything. xxx

[@adrianmannion6740]

Hi. I witnessed the fire starting. You can contact me, if you want.

[@singlecell2498]

Hello just out of curiosity how far away were you?