Joyce Davies was eight when her dad was killed in the James Watt Street Fire in 1968. The images of the fire in the centre of Glasgow yesterday are being shared everywhere on social media and also popped up in national news and in the news in Ireland too. These words demonstrate the impact this fire has on her all these years later.
“It’s hard to explain the physical response my body has on seeing these images. It’s hard to share my thoughts. It’s impossible to find words for my feelings. The only people I believe will understand my world this evening are those who like me have lost loved ones in fires, those who have escaped fires and fire officers who have fought fires in their work hours.
This evening my heart is beating faster. My thoughts fast. My fear evident. I feel hypervigilent, highly aroused and to be honest terrified. I know I am in Aberdeen. I know the fire is in Glasgow. However, this fire is in a similar building and a stones throw from James Watt St where my dad and his colleagues all died in a fire in 1968. I know that’s well in the past but grief is complicated and my mind plays tricks.
It seems like yesterday. I also know the fire is in a city a long way from me. None of this matters. I feel like I am there. I feel like I am trapped. Inside my head I am screaming. I doubt I will sleep. The folk who understand me when reading this will understand because they have walked in my shoes.
The people who don’t understand me are blessed. I feel as someone with C. PTSD I live in a parallel universe. It’s a scary place and tonight’s fire has raised my fear level to Extremely triggered. There is no real solution. This trauma is a part of me. A big part of me. An unwelcome part of me.
I hope the fire officers stay safe. What an incredible job they do. So blessed to have them.”
Joyce Davies Daughter of Henry Fulton Brown. Murdered in James Watt St 1968.
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