Firecrews tackle the flames. Picture by Tim Fox

Mr Godbold said his son was sitting up in bed, talking and seemed in a better state than he when he was first admitted to hospital in Birmingham on Sunday with burns to his face and hands.

He has so far undergone two operations including skin grafts to his hands and is said to be in a stable condition.

Annie’s mother Zulay Davies said it was a miracle her daughter escaped the building alive.

She said her 19-year-old daughter had stayed at her friends’ flat because she did not want to get a taxi home alone.

She said her daughter had told her the building collapsed on top of her and she could see people looking at her.

She said: “It’s horrible, she said she was thrown down the stairs out into the street.

“She was wandering around outside and saw Scott come out and then he went back to get the girls out.

“She said she couldn’t tell why everyone was looking at her. She didn’t realise she was burned until she looked at her legs but she felt cold and scared. A man came and took her to the Shrewsbury Hotel.”

Ms Davies said she had been horrified to hear her daughter had been airlifted to hospital.

She said: “It was such a shock to find out she was flown to Selly Oak.

“She was taken into theatre straight away.”

Ms Davies said it was a miracle her daughter was alive and that Annie was keen to thank the man who took her to the hotel in person when she was better.

Mr Godbold said his son, an office manager at the Future Physique gym in Shrewsbury, enjoyed working out and was a keen computer gamer.

He said the family, including mother Wendy, brother Craig and sister Nicole, had all been worried about Scott when he first went to hospital but he seemed to be improving.

Mr Godbold said: “Scott has come on leaps and bounds. At first he was in a really bad way.

“The consultant said what tends to happen after these sort of things is they get a lot of heat damage and their lungs can be damaged. Scott had a high pulse so they were concerned it could have happened.

“When we left him on the first night he went into surgery at 2am to get his wounds sorted out.

Operation

“His hands are the worst thing and his face looked a mess but we’ve been told it’s not permanent.

“His face had really swollen, we were pretty concerned.”

He said Scott had since undergone a second operation to carry out skin grafts to his hands.

“He’s a different lad now. The swelling on his face has gone down, he’s awake and talking and he’s a lot better,” added Mr Godbold.

He said they had been told his hands should heal and the family hoped he would be home in about two weeks.

He added they felt he had had a very lucky escape considering the damage that was done to the building.

Talking about Annie’s injuries, Ms Davies said: “At first they said it was 35 to 40 per cent burns but now they reckon it’s more.

“She has really bad burns and she was sedated.

“When she comes round she talks about what happened. She’s got burns to her face, neck, hands, chest and legs and I’m not sure about her stomach.”

Annie had been a pupil at Shrewsbury High School with Sarah and she was also good friends with Sam. Ms Davies added Scott was one of Annie’s best friends and all of the friends had known each other for a long time.

Annie had started studying fine art at Wrexham University in September and was living at her mother’s home in Shrewsbury. She also has a Saturday job at Excentric, an alternative clothing shop, in Dogpole.

Ms Davies said: “She’s a very friendly girl, she’s always trying to help her friends and she’s a good daughter.”

She added that she had been touched by the number of friends who had joined a Facebook group to pledge messages of support.

She said: “It’s really nice that people have set up a group to send her messages. So many people have joined it.”

By Emma Kasprzak