Summerland 50th Anniversary: Survivor returns to the site for the first time in 50 years

After airing our interview with Jackie Hallam at the beginning of April, we received an outpouring of sympathy and genuine interest around the story of Summerland.

Her remarkable story has been watched by thousands, with many sharing their own memories of the entertainment complex and the tragedy that followed.

Jackie was just 13 year's old when she, her mother Lorna and her friend Jane were caught at the centre of the Summerland fire.

Both Lorna and Jane died in the blaze, but Jackie managed to escape in horrific circumstances that still haunt her to this day.

Despite this, Jackie felt now was the right time to visit the Isle of Man, to lay flowers on the Summerland site in memory of Lorna and Jane.

And it's there we met with Jackie again, as she arrived into Douglas on the ferry.

On arrival, Jackie said: "I've been pretending that I'm not coming, and at the moment I'm pretending that I'm not here".

She spoke about an increase in flashbacks of the disaster, and the continued trauma that has stayed with her for the last fifty years.

She said: "I'm not comfortable here at all, but it just seemed approaching the 50th anniversary, that I had to do something because I owe it to my mother and my friend."

We started to walk up the promenade towards what remains of the Summerland site.

"I can't look at it. I feel as though I'm feeling sicker and sicker and as I approach it now, I can just see it. And I can just see being trapped inside it."

The closer we walked to the site, the more distressed Jackie became, but she was determined to pay her respects to Lorna and Jane.

"I felt I had to lay some flowers... for my mum and my friend. And I'm glad I've laid the flowers even if after an hour they've gone it doesn't matter - that's the first time I've been able to do that for them in the place that they died."

Jane died aged 13 and Lorna died age 35.

A Remarkable Reunion

After Jackie had escaped the fire, she was rushed to hospital to receive treatment.

For 50 years she’s believed she was left there alone, waiting for her family to arrive from the UK.

But in a truly remarkable discovery, we now know that wasn’t the case.

After following the Summerland coverage on ITV Granada Reports, Ann Gray commented on a post on Facebook and said: "We lost two of our visitors, it is something that has lived with me".

She continued: "It was a young mother and her 14-year-old daughter's friend".

It soon became clear that Ann worked at the hotel where Jackie, Lorna and Jane stayed in Douglas.

Not only that, but Ann also recalls sitting with Jackie as she lay unconscious in hospital.

"There was a room, there was a bed, there was a fan and there was a poorly burned child in the bed," she said. "And I just sat there, there was nothing you could do but just sit."

After Jackie heard of Ann's comment, the pair agreed to meet at the Summerland Memorial in an incredibly emotional reunion.

ITV Granada Reports will be airing a number of special reports leading up to the 50th anniversary of the Summerland fire.

The 50th anniversary of the Summerland disaster is on 2 August 2023.

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