A woman who lost her father and son in the Bradford City fire 40 years ago said the pain “never gets easier”.
Wendy Middleton’s 84-year-old father Frederick and her youngest son, 11-year-old Adrian, died when a fire ripped through a stand at Bradford City’s grounds on 11 May 1985.
Frederick was excited that his beloved Bantams had won promotion and wanted to take his grandson for the last game of the season as a special treat.
It would be Adrian’s first and last time at Valley Parade.
Fifty-six people died and hundreds more were injured in the fire that was spotted by a commentator in the 40th minute of a match against Lincoln City.
Within a few minutes, the entire wooden structure was engulfed by smoke and flames.
The dilapidated stand was due to be demolished.
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Fans and players sought safety on the pitch and could only watch on in horror as people tried to escape. But some were trapped by locked turnstiles and couldn’t get to safety.
Wendy has never spoken publicly about her loss before and told Sky News: “It still hurts an awful lot, it never gets easier, you just cope with it in a different way.”
Wendy had to wait days before her father and son were formally identified.
She says the waiting was unbearable. Her father was identified by his front door keys.
On Sunday, Bradford held a powerful and poignant memorial service as the city hall bell tolled for each of the people who lost their lives in the tragedy.
Players past and present joined relatives of victims to pay their respects as the names of the victims were read aloud.
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Wendy has never been able to go back to Valley Parade after she lost the “baby” of the family. But reflects that “it’s comforting to know that people still care and think about it”.
Survivors, too, are haunted by the tragic events of that day.
Bashir Abrahim, 65, was with his father when the chaos of the fire separated them.
After a frantic search, they were reunited on the pitch.
He says he’ll never forget the immense heat from the flames.
He bears the psychological scars from what he experienced that day, but every year he attends the memorial service and says he prays for the victims and their families.
The huge turnout at the service in Centenary Square shows how Bradford is still bound together by what happened 40 years ago.
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A city united in grief and a determination to never forget the 54 Bradford City fans and two Lincoln City fans who went to a football match and never returned home.
