A woman rescued from the 19th floor of Grenfell Tower has died after spending seven months fighting for her life in hospital with severe burns.
Maria Del Pilar Burton, 74, known as Pily, had been in hospital ever since her home was destroyed by the fire last June, killing her beagle and 71 of her neighbours.
She suffered from a debilitating long-term illness prior to the disaster and required specialist care.
Her husband Nicholas Burton, 50, who had lived in the tower for 33 years, said she died on January 29.
The cause of her death has not been disclosed.
Maria Del Pilar Burton, 74, rescued from the 19th floor of Grenfell Tower has died after spending seven months fighting for her life in hospital
Maria Del Pilar Burton, 74, known as Pily, had been in hospital ever since her home was destroyed by the fire last June, killing her dog and 71 of her neighbours
In an interview in July Mr Burton told how he lost his wife in the chaos as they were rescued by firefighters at around 3.30am.
He had been unable to carry his wife down 38 flights of stairs because her long-term health conditions left her unable to walk.
They had taken advice to stay in the flat until help arrived.
Recalling the horror he told the Standard: ‘I grabbed my wife by the waist as we ran but I lost her and started screaming, ‘Where’s my wife?’
‘Someone yelled, ‘We’ve got her.’ An officer had my arm in a tight grip and as we got into the stairwell he was shouting, ‘Let’s go, let’s go!’ My eyes were open but I couldn’t see a thing. I was stepping on things which I later realised were probably bodies. He kept shouting, ‘You can do it, nearly there, you can make it’, over and over.
Paying tribute to his ‘beautiful’ wife Mr Burton said: ‘We were together for 34 years. She was the love of my life’
‘My throat was burning. I stuffed the wet towel in my mouth and tried to breathe through it. I was holding the banister for balance but as we descended it got hotter and hotter until I had to let go. ‘The fire officer was still shouting encouragement, ‘Not far now, you gonna make it’, but I began to fade.
‘I thought, ‘Oh my days, this is it, I can’t breathe, my legs are going. I started to pass out. I heard the words ‘nearly there’ but I was barely conscious. And then, I don’t know what happened, but next thing we came into the light and I was bent over, sucking oxygen into my lungs, convulsing, coughing up soot.’
The death toll for the Grenfell Tower disaster now stands at 72, following the news that Maria Del Pilar Burton, 74, passed away last month
Mr Burton reached the foyer of the burning tower where he insisted on waiting for his wife.
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity he saw her being carried by four firefighters. Apart from her T-shirt, all her clothes had been cut off.
‘There was no life in her. I thought she was dead. I was crying and in shock’, he recalled.
A nurse eventually brought her over and they were reunited.
‘We sat and held each other and cried. She was very weak’, he said.
He was given an oxygen mask while his wife was taken to the Royal Free in Hampstead.
The Grenfell Tower fire broke out on June 14 at the 24-storey building, in west London
Sadly she never recovered from her injuries and died on January 29.
Paying tribute to his ‘beautiful’ wife Mr Burton said: ‘Pily was well known in our community, she was what people call a real character. A character in the best sense of the word – she was flamboyant, colourful, passionate and friendly.
‘Everyone on Portobello knew her and when we went to the market on the weekend she would stop and chat all the way along. She had such a big heart.
‘We were together for 34 years. She was the love of my life.
‘On the night of the fire we were rescued together from the 19th floor of Grenfell Tower.
‘I would like to ask for privacy at this time, as I lay my wife to rest this week.’