Brave son battled through Grenfell Tower blaze and carried disabled mum down 24 flights of stairs
A DISABLED mum was saved from the top floor of the blazing block by her son heroically carrying her down all 24 flights of stairs.
The superhuman feat by graduate Shekeb Neda, 24, saw him battle through the choking fumes in pitch dark with frail housewife Flora, 55, on his back.
His uncle Aref, 54, told yesterday how the mum, who suffers from a muscle disease, collapsed from smoke pouring into the family’s top-floor home.
He said: “Shekeb needed to get her out quickly. He took her arms, put them around his neck and carried her over his back down all 24 floors.”
Last night the mum was in a coma in hospital. Tragically Shekeb’s dad — cabbie Saber, 57 — stayed put on the 24th floor and was missing.
Fahim Muzhary, 62, whose son is a friend of Shekeb, said: “He is a hero. In the chaos, all the screaming and shouting, he picked up his mother and carried her down from the very top floor.
“He sprinted with her down the stairs the whole way. I just don’t know how he did it. He must have summoned the strength somehow in the moment.
“With all the smoke and the flames it really is unbelievable.”
What we know so far:
- A huge fire engulfed 24-storey Grenfell Tower in West London just before 1am on Wednesday night
- Seventeen deaths have been confirmed but the death toll is feared to be more than 100 - with many people still missing
- The first victim has been named as Syrian refugee Mohammed Al Haj Ali, 23
- The Prime Minister has promised a full public inquiry into the disaster and police have launched a criminal investigation
- The blaze is thought to have been sparked by a faulty fridge
- Experts warned the blaze was spread by cladding panels which are fitted to countless buildings across Britain
- Residents were seen jumping from upper floors in scenes reminiscent of September 11
- Horrified witnesses told of babies being thrown from windows by desperate mothers
- It was revealed the block had only recently undergone a £10million refurb but still had no sprinkler system installed
- Designers insisted the refurbishment work complied with building regulations
- Residents raised safety concerns four years ago, but were ignored
- A former housing minister was blasted for postponing a government review into tower block safety
- Celebrities and ordinary Londoners have united to provide food, clothes, money and shelter for survivors
Shekeb was taken to hospital where, like his mum, he lapsed into a coma.
Last night he was awake. A family member who visited him said: “He is getting better.”
Another relative, a cousin, said: “Shekeb is the most loving and caring man — a strong young boy who loves his family more than anything.
“He did what any son would do and he got his mother to safety. We do not know where Saber is. We hope he is alive.”
Shekeb, whose parents are from Afghanistan, recently graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.
He was a student at Kingston University in South West London.
Friend Peter Martindale said: “They are the most wonderful, kind family. I used to live a few floors below them in that tower. They moved in about 14 years ago.”
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