'I couldn’t carry on firefighting'
A former firefighter on dealing with the trauma of what he has seen on the job
Most people would probably not want to see what the firefighters who attended Grenfell Tower fire saw, or do what they did. All of the firefighters who were there received counselling after their shift had finished. Some are still having treatment, including the woman who is the London Fire Brigade Commissioner, Dany Cotton.
Clifford Thompson is a journalist at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ but his boyhood dream was to be a firefighter: a dream he realised when he was stationed in East London at the age of 18.
In this interview he reflects on his life as a firefighter, some of the big disasters he attended and how the support now offered to firefighters in dealing with traumatic events has changed.
(Photo: Clifford Thompson Credit: Clifford Thompson)
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The Eddie Mair Interview
Eddie Mair speaks at length to people with interesting things to say, for Radio 4's PM.
