Disabled Grenfell father: ‘It’s no life in a hotel’

Maher Khoudair settles with a little effort into his chair. He puts his crutches nearby. They stay within easy reach.

We are sitting in the bedroom of his Kensington hotel room. He smiles and nods towards me, ready to start the interview.

He begins by telling me how his family take turns sharing the bed.

"We don’t have a home to stay in so we stay in a hotel for six weeks. It’s no life in a hotel. We’ve got only two rooms.

"I have three daughters. One of them sleeps on the floor and the other two sleep in the bed. They change sometimes. So this is not life. We are waiting for answers. When are we going to be rehoused?"

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Maher is a Grenfell survivor. And his question has been asked every day since 14 June, when the fatal fire swept through the 24-storey tower block in west London. Maher lost friends and neighbours in the disaster.

He was woken by one of his daughters who smelled the smoke as it rose up through the building. Maher hobbled down 13 flights of stairs with his family to safety. They stood on the street and looked on helplessly as the fire destroyed everything they owned.

Since then Maher has been living in this four-star hotel just behind Kensington High Street. The lobby is full of international tourists making happy memories of their holiday in London.

Their lives are so far removed from fellow hotel guests like Maher. He is not the only Grenfell survivor being temporarily accommodated here.

The rooms are comfortable but a little cramped for a family of four – especially because they have been here for almost two months already.

Maher has been offered a property. But one that was completely unsuitable for his needs.

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"I know nothing until now. Only once someone called me from Westminster City Council and they offered me a house on Harrow Road. I asked them to send me the address.

"When they sent it to me I googled it. There was no bus stop, no market, no shopping, nothing at all. He told me to go to view it. I told him about my situation.

"He didn’t come back to me at all. He knows he gave me the wrong place to stay so he didn’t call me again."

Maher has polio in both legs. He contracted the virus as a child when he was growing up in Syria. He is completely dependant on crutches to move around.

He told me: "Nobody has talked to me about my disability."

Maher has lived in Britain for 16 years. He moved to Grenfell Tower about three-and-a half years ago. Just six months ago his wife and three children finally came to London to join him, Maher says, after years of persuasion.

They lived in Damascus and survived the war. Maher managed to convince them to start a new life in London away from the bombings. He convinced them they would "be safe and happy" here with him.

But now one nightmare has been replaced by another. They brought with them everything they owned. All their possessions, a lifetime of memories and mementos, went up in flames. They have nothing left of their life before the fire.

Maher’s wife is recovering from cancer and one of his daughters has a spinal deformity which has recently been operated on.

Now the youngest has withdrawn into a world of silence – her way of coping with the devastation of last month.

Maher says: "When she is at school she is OK. When she comes home she just sits alone not talking to anybody." He tells me she wakes up regularly suffering from nightmares. In her mind the fire is still raging.

"I need a place I can feel comfortable. Where the transport is not too far. So I can go for shopping.

"My wife has cancer – she needs to go to the hospital. She wants to see her doctor.

"It’s hard for me to go far to get what they need. I sometimes use my taxi card. But that is expensive. After only 10 journeys per month it’s gone.

"We need a place to feel safe. I’m 52-years-old now and I use crutches. Maybe next year I won’t be able to walk.".

The Khoudairs, like all Grenfell survivors, are stuck in limbo. They cannot afford to live in the past, constantly reminded of the all-consuming inferno. But they cannot move on. They have nowhere to go.

Until new homes are found, new lives cannot be rebuilt.

(c) Sky News 2017: Disabled Grenfell father: ‘It’s no life in a hotel’