Grenfell survivor breaks down in tears recounting agonising moment medics were forced to choose between saving the life of his wife or child - as Cat Deeley steps in to comfort him on This Morning
Marcio Gomes featured on Wednesday's instalment of the ITV show and sat down with journalist Peter Apps and presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard in an emotional interview.
The grieving father lived on the 21st floor of Grenfell Tower with his wife, who was seven months pregnant, and two daughters.
A fire broke out in the tower block on June 14, 2017 and spread throughout the building, leading to the loss of 72 lives.
Following the eight year anniversary of the tragic night, Marcio recalled what happened to his family and how his unborn son, Logan, sadly passed away as a result of the fire.
'I was woken at 1.15am in the morning with the neighbour banging on the door which I'm forever grateful because if it wasn't for that, we would've been sleeping,' Marcio recalled.
The grieving father lived on the 21st floor of Grenfell Tower with his wife, who was seven months pregnant, and two daughters
Cat explained how 'the fire brigade were told the 'stay put' rule, which is essentially you stay there for 2 hours'.
Marcio's family began preparing wet towels but eventually realised they needed to leave the flat and go against the fire brigade's advice.
'Probably about an hour into it I would say when I really understood how bad it was, we'd had fires in the tower before, not generally a problem,' he said.
'Of course that night it was very different,' he added.
An hour into it when I tried to go into my neighbours house and I opened the door it was pitch black, the lights were on but it was pitch black.
He described the 'really thick' smoke and added: 'It was awful, it was something I've never experienced before... as soon as you breathed that in you was just gagging, it was a horrific smell, it was something I can never really describe that well.
'That's when I knew it was really bad.'
After multiple calls to the fire brigade, the family and neighbour decided they would have to try and make their own way down.
They attempted to leave the flat twice but Marcio described the moment that made them realise they had to go.
'As I looked into the bedroom, fire came through the window and set basically the room alight. At that point I said we've got to go, it's now or never, we couldn't stay in the flat,' he said.
Cat looked emotional and she said: 'There was so much confusion at the time, you couldn't see anything, you were supposed to be behind the girls and you were taking them down and then you kind of lost them within the smoke.
'When you finally get to the bottom of the tower, you see each other again, you get taken into an ambulance but your wife, who is seven months pregnant and asthmatic, they have to make a terrible decision.'
Marcio broke down into tears as he replied: 'At the hospital, they came to me and said they and to make that decision because my wife was obviously alive, they had to go with her, which I said, yes, that's the choice.'
Cat leant forward to comfort Marcio and kindly pat his knee as she looked tearful too.
The blaze, which was the worst in Britain for more than a generation, was accelerated by deadly combustible cladding and many of those who died had been told to stay in their flats.
It resulted in the deaths of 72 men, women and children, including multiple generations of the same families, living in the 120-apartment tower, built in Kensington - one of London's richest areas.
The fire triggered mass protests about building standards, following months of concerns from Grenfell Tower residents about safety following its refurbishment.
The final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, published in September, concluded the disaster was the result of 'decades of failure' by government and the construction industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.
Ben read out a statement from The London Fire Brigade commission which said: 'On the night of the fire, the brigade faced the most formidable challenge that any fire service in the UK has confronted in living memory.
'In 2019 the brigade accepted every recommendation from the Grenfell Tower enquiry phase one report and have since implemented significant changes to how we operate.'
Ben then went on to read a statement from Arconic which said: 'Our thoughts remain with all those affected and their families and friends.
'Arconic architectural products along with others has made financial contributions to settlements for those impacted, we support all efforts to strengthen the regulatory oversight in the construction industry.'
Earlier this year, Angela Rayner revealed the apartment tower would be dismantled after concerns over damage, but this has been hit with backlash.
Ben also read a statement from the Government's Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government and said: 'We will deliver the change needed so this can never happen again by taking decisive actions to speed up the mediation through the remediation acceleration plan and deliver the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower enquiry.'
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV1 from 10am and is available to stream on ITVX.
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By contrast, north-east England had the lowest regional percentage this year at 22.9 per cent, down from 23.9 per cent in 2024. The gap between these two regions now stands at 9.2 percentage points, up from 7.4 points last year and the largest since the present system of grading began in 2010. North-east England is one of just two regions to see a year-on-year drop in entries receiving top grades, the other being West Midlands (down from 24.8 per cent to 24.2 per cent). It is also the only region where the proportion of entries awarded A or A* this year, 22.9 per cent, is lower than the equivalent figure in the pre-pandemic year of 2019 (23.0 per cent). For entries receiving the top grade of A*, London again had the highest proportion (11.6 per cent, up from 11.3 per cent) and north-east England the lowest (6.8 per cent, down from 7.8 per cent). The gap here of 4.8 percentage points is wider than in 2024 (3.5 points) but not as large as during the pandemic, when it reached 6.8 points in 2021. North-east England and the West Midlands are the only regions to see a year-on-year fall in entries receiving A*. By contrast, all regions reported a year-on-year increase in the proportion of entries awarded a grade C or higher, with London and south-east England almost tied on the highest percentage (79.54 per cent and 79.45 per cent respectively) and the East Midlands having the lowest (73.6 per cent). At a national level, 30.4 per cent of entries in Northern Ireland received A or A*, higher than the equivalent figure for Wales (29.5 per cent) and England (28.2 per cent). For entries awarded C or above, Northern Ireland was ahead at 85.8 per cent, above England (77.7 per cent) and Wales (77.2 per cent). Jill Duffy, chairwoman of JCQ board of directors and chief executive of the OCR exam board, said: 'Regional inequalities are getting worse, not better. 'The gap at top grades (A*-A) has grown again. London is once again the top performing region and is now 9.2 percentage points ahead of the North East.' She added: 'These regional inequalities need more attention.' The figures were also stark between school types, with state school entries only achieving A* with 8 per cent of entries, while for private schools it was 20 per cent. The difference may fuel anger among families who say they have had to leave the private sector this year due to Labour's new VAT on fees, which critics say is making elite education even more exclusive. The statistics also show interest in A-level maths has soared in the last decade, with entries for the subject up by more than a fifth – 21.7 per cent – in the last 10 years. But there is a clear gender divide, with boys significantly more likely to choose the subject than girls. There were 70,255 boys' entries for A-level maths this year, compared to 41,883 girls' entries – both up on 2024. Ms Duffy added: 'There are still significantly fewer girls taking A-level maths, and proportionally there are fewer girls taking the subject than in 2019.' Exam board executives also suggested social media influencers may be fuelling interest in A-level economics and business studies among students keen to enjoy similar success in making money. The current generation of young people have an 'entrepreneurial spirit' and are choosing subjects that will help open up career opportunities, according to exam bosses. New figures show a rise in entries for A-levels in both economics and business studies this year – with business studies entering the top five subjects for the first time. Claire Thomson, executive director of regulation and compliance at the AQA exam board said both subjects have a 'real world relevance' which helps students understands how the world works and businesses operate. She said: 'They are clearly relevant for lots of career opportunities whether it's finance, marketing, management. 'I also wonder if there's a little bit about the social media phenomenon these days and the amount of influencers people see making what seems like lots of money, and that idea of gaining some entrepreneurial skills so that they can go out and emulate the people that they see all the time on social media.' Ms Thomson added these A-level subjects involve critical thinking, problem-solving and data analysis skills which lend themselves to many vocational and higher education opportunities. Ms Duffy added that it was good to see an increase in interest for the subjects. She said: 'I think it's true, we see a very entrepreneurial spirit in this generation of young people. They've often got side hustles going on.' Figures published by JCQ show a 5.5 per cent increase in entries for A-level economics this year, compared to 2024, while business studies entries are up 0.6 per cent. Business studies' entry into the top five most popular subjects means it is the first time a humanities subject has not been in the top five since the current grading system began. Meanwhile, figures published by Ucas, the official admissions body, found overall, 82 per cent of UK 18-year-old applicants awaiting a decision on results day secured their first choice – which was the same proportion as last year. For 18-year-olds in the UK, 255,130 applicants have been accepted onto a university or college course – up 4.7 per cent on last year. The number of international students who have been accepted on to undergraduate courses has risen by 2.9 per cent – from 51,170 last year to 52,640. Accepted applicants from China – 12,380 – are up 13 per cent compared with last year. Jo Saxton, chief executive of Ucas, said: 'This year's students were just thirteen when the pandemic hit, and their secondary schooling was turned upside down. 'It's great to see these applicants securing a university place in record numbers, seeking more education and investing in their futures. 'I am equally delighted to see how universities across the country have responded to their ambition. 'For any student who didn't quite get the grades they were hoping for, or even those still yet to apply, there are plenty of options in clearing with around 27,000 available courses. 'Ucas experts are also available on the phones, on social media and on the Ucas website, to help all those deciding on the next step that's right for them.' This morning, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said there has been a 'steadying of the ship' after the disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she said: 'What we've seen is a steadying of the ship, both this year and last following some of the disruption that we saw during the pandemic. 'These are young people who have not had disruption in recent times, but have had the full normal assessment process. 'These are also young people who would have been the first to sit GCSEs under normal circumstances. So they've gone through the full regular GCSE cycle that you would have expected before the pandemic. 'So, this is a normal year, the kind of year that we would have seen before the pandemic hit.' Mrs Phillipson also addressed the issue of 'yawning inequalities in exam achievement. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, she said: 'Alongside the post-16 white paper that we'll be publishing later on this year, I will also bring a big focus through our schools white paper on how we tackle these thorny generational challenges where white working-class kids across our country don't get the start that they deserve. 'Now the school system is an important part of how we respond to that, but I would say alongside it so much of this develops and opens up in the early years. 'The attainment gap that we see between less well-off students and better-off students opens up before the age of five. 'It's why early years has been such a priority, because if we get that right then we set up children to succeed, but we will take more action in the school system to ensure that those gaps that we see, those yawning inequalities, are addressed. 'It's something the last government failed to tackle. It is something this Government will grasp.' Scotland has a different qualification system and students received their results on Tuesday last week. Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) showed that 78.4 per cent of those sitting National 5 exams passed with grades A to C – up from 77.2 per cent last year. For Highers, 75.9 per cent passed with the top bands, up from 74.9 per cent last year, and for Advanced Highers 76.7 per cent of students achieved A to C grades, up from 75.3 per cent last year.
