A WOMAN who was hospitalised after a suspected arson attack has recalled her terrifying ordeal. 

Kate Hill, 26, was rushed to hospital by emergency services before receiving treatment for smoke inhalation. She had suffered a seizure after evacuating the burning smoke-filled building in Cromer Court, Liden, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

She said: “I remember being just sat in bed when it happened, there was no warning. We didn’t know anything was wrong until we heard banging outside. We looked and we could see smoke in the corridor outside the flat

“My partner, Jay Harris, went to investigate and discovered it was a real fire two floors below us. We got ourselves together and tried to get out, only then did the fire alarm go off.”

Kate explained that her and her partner, 26, both live with disabilities and following the Grenfell tragedy had made a plan for what to do in a fire.

She said: “You prepare yourself for something like this, but when it happens you don’t think of all the plans you’ve made. It was just put a coat on and get out.

"It was terrifying to try and get out with all the smoke. We couldn’t really see anything, but we could hear a lot of screaming and crying from others. It was really, really scary.”

The pair managed to make it out of the building safely, but shortly after escaping Kate suffered from a seizure and has no memory of what happened next.

She woke in the back of an ambulance and was full of praise for all of the emergency services who attended. 

“The fire brigade and the ambulance staff were so quick at responding," she said. "If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know what would’ve happened with me

“They were so quick and so efficient. They couldn’t be faulted that night. It was amazing that we could come back and sleep in our own beds.”

Kate was also full of praise for the neighbours who rushed to help people fleeing the building with blankets and water.

She’s trying to track down a lady called Emma who she says was incredibly comforting and supportive towards Jamie when she suffered her seizure

“If anyone knows who Emma is, please get in touch as I’d love to thank her personally for what she did," she said.

Kate and Jay are now looking forward to getting married in two weeks' time after their wedding was initially cancelled last year due to the pandemic. 

A 47-year-old man was arrested shortly after the blaze on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and has since been released on conditional bail to appear before magistrates on August 23.