What a Difference a Day Makes: Grenfell Tower tragedy crystallised that we are all born the same way

David Tighe was a volunteer with the British Red Cross fire and emergency support service when the Grenfell Tower fire broke out in June 2017. He received the Dunant Award for attending the disaster. He tells Helen O’Callaghan about that day – and how it reinforced for him that all we have in the end is each other.

David Tighe, CEO of Critical: "I saw the very best in humanity that day, people from all backgrounds coming with nappies, food, clothes – it was overwhelming what came in that day." Picture: Eamon Ward.

The text message woke me at 5am: ‘Can you get into London ASAP. There’s been a tragedy of huge proportions. Everybody’s required to attend’.

The location was close to where I was born on Portobello Road. It felt like something I had to respond to. I got up, put on the news, saw what was happening. It looked like an inferno. It was difficult to comprehend.