A mother who was left severely injured in a gas explosion that took the life of a four-year-old girl has spoken about the impact of that traumatizing day.
55-year-old Elaine McDonald had been leaving on Galpin’s Road in South London since 2012 with her partner and son.
“I switched on the kettle, I turned around to walk back to the table. I was going to just hang around until it’s boiled obviously, and I heard a sound,” Ms. McDonald recalled.
“Just a small sound. I can’t recall if it was a click or what. And then, boom. That was it,” the mother continued.
“There was a boom, there was a flash and then after that, I don’t recall how long I was under debris. I came to a couple of times and it was horrific, because it was dark and I could hear sounds, either water or gas.”
Hundreds of residents were evacuated after the explosion. They said that they noticed a smell of gas in the area for weeks before the fateful day.
“I was absolutely terrified,” Ms. McDonald went on. “I thought there was going to be another explosion and then I blacked out again, and then the next time I came around I thought, ‘I’m still here,’ and then I just started punching.”
Her partner Nigel Forde, 55, described the experience of rescuing her as ‘traumatic’.
“I think it was about four to five hours before Elaine came out. I didn’t have any concept of time. I was barefoot, trying to help move rubble and stuff until the fire brigade had come and the main person who was in charge said that we all had to evacuate,” he recalled.
The mother said she remembered seeing her ankle and saw her bone.
“The next time I woke up, I was in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital burns unit,” she said, adding that she suffered burns to over half of her body and two broken ankles.
She is now receiving mental health treatment and external physiotherapy as well as counseling to deal with her PTSD.
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