017 - Station Nightclub Fire Part 2

​As most Rhode Islanders slept, firemen, policemen and paramedics were dealing with the aftermath of a disaster, like none any of them had seen before. Local hospitals were overcrowded with hundreds of patients smoke inhalation, severe burns, physical injuries, and the death totals rising each hour. People around the state started waking up to the news of the station nightclub fire. And their first thought. Was someone I know there. I'm Tom Stewart and this is my paranormal story. Before I start this episode, I just want. To thank you for listening. Remember, if you've bought T-shirts or coffee mugs from my website myparanormalstory.com, be sure to send me a selfie with your swag so I can post it on Facebook or Instagram. And don't forget everything you buy on the website helps keep this podcast running. So thank you so much for your support. Stick with me on this one. I promise there will be an eerie paranormal angle to this story. None of us slept the night of the. Fire, how could we? The four of us had just somehow miraculously survived. We all sat in James's living room, watching the news footage, somehow finding it hard to believe that what we were seeing we had just been a part of. And we knew it was something that would be a part of us forever. When I got home, the phone calls started early in the morning and didn't stop for days, friends, relatives, acquaintances, some I hadn't talked to in years were calling to see if I had been in the fire. California, Florida, Arizona from all over the country. Anyone who has ever known me knew there was a pretty good chance. I was at that rock concert. But my first call was to my mom. I had hoped to catch her before she heard the news so that she wouldn't spend anytime worrying. Luckily, she hadn't heard much yet, only that there had been a fire. So the seriousness of the situation hadn't quite resonated with her yet. I assured everyone that I spoke to that I was OK and did my best to tell everyone what happened where I was, how I got out. But the horror of what happened began to grow on everyone in the state in New England, pretty much across the country. As the day went. On the death totals kept rising. 89 Dead 92 dead reports of 94 dead. The numbers continued to slowly rise throughout the day, and the rest of the week, as doctors and nurses did their best to save as many as possible. People around the state did their best to get dressed and go to work that day. Wondering if any of the victims were relatives or friends or coworkers. The horror of what happened on February 20th, 2003 didn't just affect the 400 plus who attended the concert. It would have a direct effect on 10s of thousands of people throughout New England who still hadn't heard from their loved ones that morning. I was still rattled reliving the story with each phone call I answered. I never even stopped to consider if anyone I knew had been there that night outside of the friends that I went with. And then I got the message from a friend on my computer. This was before the days of Facebook and text messaging. Social media was pretty much just AOL chat rooms and instant messages. Tom were you there last night? I was I typed back but I'm OK. My friends and I got out. Did you see Kathy there, she asked. My heart sunk to my stomach as I read the words. No, I didn't, was she there? After a long pause, she replied. Yeah, she's hurt. Pretty bad. She's in a coma at a Hospital in Boston. I sat back in my chair completely out of breath. All of the relief I had been feeling from telling people I was OK, just rushed out of my body. The words she was hurt pretty bad knocked the wind out of me. Kathy and I had known each other for like 10 or 12 years. At this point, when we first met in our late teens, we dated for a while. In fact, our first date was a rock concert and we went to many shows together. The relationship had its up and downs though, and we both moved on, but we always managed to stay friends over the years. Which was good because it wasn't uncommon for us to bump into each other at concerts. In fact, it was pretty much expected every time we saw each other, we would catch up on each other's lives. We were always happy to see each other. The great White show might have been one of the only times I didn't see her at a rock show. After hearing the news about Kathy, I needed to find out more. I knew being transferred to a Boston hospital was not a good sign, so I called the hospital to ask about her condition. They wouldn't tell me anything. They wouldn't even. Acknowledge if she was there or not. I called and messaged mutual. Friends and friends of friends but. No one knew anything. By mid afternoon I was exhausted. I could still smell the smoke from the fire on my clothes on my skin, in my hair. I get in the shower to try and wash it off me and. Just stood there under the hot water thinking about everything. I went through, surviving the fire, Kathy being hurt, and all of a sudden just hit. Me at once. It literally dropped to my knees and just started crying. I was overcome with survivors guilt. Why couldn't it be me? I kept asking myself. Why did I get out and so many didn't? Why did Cathy get hurt and I didn't? I'm not a religious person, but I was praying to whatever God there might be on that day. To just reverse time and replace me with her. I don't know. If there's a worse feeling in the world than survivors guilt, but I know I still feel it to this day. And I'm sure I always will. The days went on and the death count continued to rise. And with each one I would hope it wasn't Cathy. I kept calling the hospital 345 times a day, hoping someone would slip up and tell me something. I'd even try calling different extensions and different direct numbers to the hospital to try and trick someone into giving me information after a couple of days I found a section on the hospitals website that listed her name along with a few others who were being treated from the fire. But the only thing it showed was her name and her condition critical. And I kept that screen up on my computer for days. Refreshing it every hour, hoping for a change in her condition. I became obsessed with it. Mentally, I just kept willing her to get better. And still wishing it was me and not her. That weekend I went back to the site of the fire. For some reason, it was as if I needed to prove to myself that it had really happened, that it wasn't a nightmare. I got out of my car and there were small groups of people standing around by now the whole area had been fenced in. With yellow police tape and makeshift memorials were hanging on the chain, link fence. Pictures, T-shirts, notes, mementos, candles. The entire site had already become. A shrine to those who were lost. On the inside of the fence, the charred remains of the building sat. In a pile. You could barely make out the shape of the building, just pieces of cement foundations and burnt chunks of wood everywhere. I slowly walked around taking pictures of all the memorials. And eventually found myself standing in the exact spot where I escaped, where the mystery voice had told. Me to go. The door to. The left of the building was gone now. But part of the metal railing from the stairs was still sticking out through the cement and a small piece of metal that must have broken off was just sitting on the ground by my foot. I cut down on one knee and reached through the chain link fence. And picked it up. How could something like this happen? The routine of life slowly got back to normal as normal as it could. Eventually the death count got up to 99 and stayed there for a short time. Until one more perished, making it an even 100. And with each new count, I would rush to my computer and refresh that hospital's page just to make sure Kathy was still listed. For a while it was driving me crazy. My obsession was getting dangerous too. Only immediate family was allowed to visit her. And the hospital still refused to give out any information on her condition. So I had to resort to rumors and hearsay from mutual friends to find out information. But all I could think about was how I wanted her to know that I was thinking of her. I wanted to somehow give her my energy. And for weeks I was thinking of ways I could sneak into the hospital. I was downloading floor plans, researching the website for entrances and exits. My best plan was to sneak into the hospital, duck into a room somewhere, find one of those green doctor's coats on a clipboard, and just walk around until I found my way into her room. I told a few of my friends this idea. Naturally they told me I was crazy, but none of them would have been surprised if I did it. And one day her condition upgraded to serious and a few people told me she was out of. Her coma, but still suffering from severe burns and injuries. Several more weeks went by and. Eventually her name was removed from the website. And the relief I felt was just. I don't know. It wasn't just that she was my friend or with how close we once were. I think it was more about me. I don't think I could have ever lived with the idea of me surviving the fire and her not. And when I. Heard she was going to be OK. It was like I had survived twice. More weeks went by and. Kathy was being released from the hospital. Her family and friends organized a fundraiser for her to help with what would surely be an ungodly amount of medical bills. Not to mention she wouldn't be working for a long time. Hundreds of people gathered at the Venus de Milo in Swansea, MA. Easily 500 people were there. There was food, entertainment and raffles. Her doctors told her she was in no condition to go to. The fundraiser though. But when she heard how many people were going? To be there, she insisted. So the doctors made her promise to stay in her wheelchair and only stay for a short time. But she stayed for as long as it took for her to thank just about each person individually. When I finally Reached her, I could tell she was. Exhausted, we all were. But she got up from her wheelchair and hugged me. We both started crying. I heard you were there too. She said to me as I helped. Her back into her chair. I was but I'm OK. You're going to be OK too. I assured her, and she leaned in and whispered to me. I need to tell you something later. The line continued to move behind me as I made my. Way across the room. A little while later, before leaving the fundraiser, I made my way over to the table she. Was sitting at. She asked me a lot of the usual questions people were asking me. Where was I standing when the fire started? How did I get out when I asked her the same questions she couldn't remember and the last thing I wanted? Was for her to remember. But then she told me something that I'll never forget. She said that while she was in the hospital in the coma. She could still sometimes hear what was going on around her. Like doctors and nurses talking and her dad reading to her. She said that she also had lots of strange visions while she was in the coma. Weird dreams, that sort of felt real. One of the dreams she told me about. She was lying in the bed and suddenly I walked into the room. But for some reason I was dressed like a doctor. I'm happy to report that Kathy is doing great today. She's married to a great guy, someone. I also consider a good friend and they have a house and owned a couple of businesses together in my life. It's been a rocky road at times. Dealing with survivors, guilt and depression, but I'm happier than I've ever been today. I have a great girlfriend who loves and supports me and a great group of friends. Many who I've met because of the fire. If you go to the blog section of the website you can see some of the pictures I took the day I went back to the site of the fire. Just go to my paranormal. Story.net My paranormal story is written, produced and narrated by me. Tom Stewart. Music from this episode, courtesy of [email protected]. If you enjoy my stories and would. Like to support the podcast. You can go to buymeacoffee.com/my paranormal or just click on the donate button on my website at my paranormal story.com. I also have T-shirts and coffee mugs for sale. Unfortunately, podcasts cost money and your support helps me keep this podcast running. Thank you for your support. Please don't forget to subscribe so you'll know when I've added new episodes and feel free to follow me on Facebook and Instagram. Just search for my paranormal. If you have a podcast and you'd like to have me as a guest, or if you would like to ask me a question or tell me your paranormal story, you can e-mail me at [email protected]. Thanks for listening. I'm Tom Stewart and this is my paranormal story.