Ruth McQuillan-Wilson said her scars were her “story” but it took her a long time to accept them
By Ashlea Tracey & Catherine Nicoll
BBC News
Fifty years ago, 3,000 people were enjoying an evening of entertainment at the Summerland leisure complex on the Isle of Man when fire broke out.
Fifty people died as a result of the blaze and a further 80 were injured.
Ruth McQuillian-Wilson, who was then a five-year-old on a family holiday from County Down in Northern Ireland, suffered severe burns.
Five decades on, she said she no longer hides her scars like she once did because “my scars are my story”.
Recalling the night of 2 August 1973, she said her family had enjoyed a day exploring the island’s capital before they all headed to the complex on Douglas Promenade.
Warning: The following contains descriptions that some may find distressing
She said once inside, her father became uneasy after noticing smoke coming from a ventilation shaft, and despite an announcement that it was from a chip pan fire, he took the decision to get his family out.
“We went downstairs immediately and as we reached the lower levels, flames just erupted from the area of the amusement arcade,” she said.
“He grabbed my sister, I was holding on to his coat, and he jumped over the railings thinking I was with Mum, and they managed to get out.
“Mum had been caught with the rest of the people panicking and swept back upstairs.
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“The flames were coming up through the stairs and everybody else was rushing to get away from them and I was just there, and I was burning at this point.
“And she pushed and pushed against the people, and she wasn’t very big, to try and get back to me.”
After being reunited, the mother and daughter climbed down on to the roof of a kiosk on the floor below, and were pulled out of the building through a broken pain of glass by a firefighter.
“They took me away and put me in a police car and my legs stuck to the seats, I can remember that clearly, and skin hanging between the fingers.”
Image source, MANX NATIONAL HERITAGE
The fire took hold at the complex within a matter of minutes
Ms McQuillian-Wilson went through years of skin grafts and treatment, including reconstructive work to help her walk again.
She said she kept her scars hidden when she was growing up, “because I couldn’t be myself when they were on show”.
However, she said in recent years, she had decided to no longer do that.
“I don’t hide it now because I read up on the Dunblane massacre and there’s a very brave lady there who said ‘my scars are my story’,” she said.
“It took me a long time to accept, but that’s the way I feel now, I’m not going to hide it.
“This happened to me and I’ve survived. I’m lucky, so I’m not going to hide that.”
Ruth McQuillian-Wilson said she now accepted the scars on her legs and hands were part of her story
Ms McQuillian-Wilson said the commemorations to mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy in 2013 and the creation of a permanent memorial had helped some of those who were aught up in the tragedy to start to come to terms with what happened.
“For a long time, nobody had anybody to talk to,” she said.
“When I started my journey, there wasn’t anybody, not one person, and it was a lonely place to be.
“I didn’t talk about Summerland when I was a child because no-one understood, but now they can and that’s just all I ever wanted.”
A service to mark the 50th anniversary of the tragedy is set to take place at the memorial in the Kaye Memorial Garden on Douglas Promenade at 19:00 BST.
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