WAKING up in a hospital bed, Scott Peden knew how lucky he was to be alive.
Heavily bandaged and blackened with burns, he instantly recalled the horrific house fire he had managed to escape.
But turning to his mum Glenda, 65, who was sitting beside him, it soon became clear something was very wrong.
She had to break the devastating news that he would never see his wife or their two young children again.
Scott was the sole survivor of the blaze which had ripped through the family home while they slept.
Scott says: “I still can’t process what’s happened. I lost my entire family, everything, in a matter of minutes.”
Scott is now warning Christmas shoppers to be wary of buying second hand e batteries after losing both his partner and their children in the fire 18 months ago.
Scott Peden bought a second-hand battery after his own was stolen, and he needed his bike to get to work.
But two days after purchase, it exploded with such ferocity that it destroyed his home and killed his partner, Gemma Germeney, 31, and their two young children, Lilly, eight and Oliver, four. The family’s two dogs also perished.
Scott miraculously pulled through after four weeks in a coma and is now trying to rebuild his life and warn others of the dangers of second-hand lithium batteries.
Scott, 31, from Cambridge, says: “I grieve every day for the family I have lost, but this time of year is especially tough because Gemma and the children had birthdays, and my sister was murdered over New Year.
“At Christmas, when people are buying e-bikes as gifts, I am pleading with people not to buy second hand batteries.
“There needs to be stricter regulations over the resale of batteries, they should be checked and certified.
“We had smoke alarms, but because it was a lithium battery, we didn’t stand a chance. I lost everything in the fire, and I have to start all over again.
“Gemma should have celebrated her birthday on December 14th, Oliver should be 6 on December 23. Lily should be turning nine in January. Instead, they are gone. The only positive to come from this is me making sure it does not happen to anyone else.”
We were a happy family, Gemma was very maternal and loved being a mum.
Scott Peden
Scott and Gemma met at college in Cambridge as teenagers and moved in together ten years ago. Along with their two children they had a greyhound-boxer cross, named Bitsy, and a Dalmatian called Rolo.
Scott says: “We were a happy family, Gemma was very maternal and loved being a mum.
“She was also very artistic. She loved drawing, puzzles and colouring. She had a dream of being a baker and, with Oliver due to start school, she was looking at returning to work.
I still can’t process what’s happened. I lost my entire family, everything, in a matter of minutes
Scott
“I worked full time at Marks and Spencer, but with a young family, money was tight.”
To help out, Scott’s mum, Glenda, bought him an e-bike early in 2022, which he used to travel to work.
He says: “The e-bike was brilliant. I did shift work, so couldn’t rely on the buses, and it was too far to walk.”
But in June 2023, after he had nipped out to buy dog food, his battery was stolen from outside a local shop. Faced with no way of getting to work, Scott ordered a second-hand replacement on ebay.
He says: “A new battery cost £600, so when I found one on ebay for £300, I thought it was a bargain.”
Scott left the battery to charge downstairs, in the hallway. But on the second night, he and Gemma were woken at 12.45am by a huge bang. When Scott ran to investigate he found the entire staircase in flames.
He says: “The bang was like a bomb going off. The stairs were engulfed in flames; the walls, the banister, the whole lot was alight. I knew we had no chance of making it downstairs.
“I tried screaming for help out of the window, but nobody came and so I jumped out, into the back garden, breaking my heel as I landed.
“I got in through the back door and realised immediately the e-bike was the source. I tried to throw the battery outside, but the door was so hot, it burned my hands, and then the key melted.
“The fire was spreading, and I was choking, and I realised there was no way through.”
Scott still remembers the tragic final words Gemma said to him.
“I ran back out to the garden, hoping to persuade Gemma and the children to jump,” he says.
The 8 fire safety checks you should do in your home every night
TO avoid a devastating fire in your home, there are some checks you should be conducting every night, according to Gov.uk.
- Close inside doors at night to stop a fire from spreading
- Turn off and unplug electrical appliances unless they are designed to be left on – like your freezer.
- Check your cooker is turned off
- Don’t run appliances such as washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers overnight
- Turn heaters off and put up fireguards
- Put candles and cigarettes out properly
- Make sure exits are kept clear
- Keep door and window keys where everyone can find them
“I heard Gemma shout: ‘I can’t get out,’ and then there was nothing.
“The house was ablaze, and I collapsed onto the children’s trampoline behind me. I was aware of someone patting me down and realised I was on fire.”
Neighbours called for help and stayed with Scott until firefighters and paramedics arrived. Scott saw Lilly’s body carried out of the house and passed out with the trauma.
He was placed in a coma for four weeks, and treated at Broomfield Hospital, a specialist burns unit in Chelmsford.
Glenda flew back from a holiday to be at her son’s bedside.
She says: “I didn’t even recognise him at first. He was heavily bandaged, and his face was very swollen and blackened with burns. I was told it was touch and go.
“The lithium battery fumes, which are toxic, had got into his lungs and caused severe damage.”
A heart of gold
Over the coming weeks, Scott survived several brushes with death, including three bouts of pneumonia, a cardiac arrest and an infection. When he woke, he remembered all the details of the fire, but did not know if his family had survived.
Glenda recalls: “That was the worst thing, having to tell him that they didn’t make it.”
At a joint funeral, Scott played Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’ which was his and Gemma’s song. The family’s ashes have since been buried together.
Scott says: “I still can’t process what’s happened. I lost my entire family, everything, in a matter of minutes.
“We had so much to look forward to, and I am dreading this new life, on my own. I don’t even have photos to remember them by, everything I owned was destroyed.”
He was already no stranger to tragedy as this Christmas also marks the second anniversary of his sister’s death.
Stephanie Hansen, 39, was murdered by her house mate, Sheldon Rodrigues, 30, in December 2022.
Scott says: “Stephanie was absolutely lovely, inside and out. She had a heart of gold and spent her spare time volunteering with community action groups.
“She was passionate about the environment and nature and was a member of a litter picking group.
Christmas is especially hard, and I am speaking out to warn other families of the dangers.
Scott Peden
“I’d met Rodrigues lots of times. He’d even spent Christmas with my family in the past. It was clear to anyone that he was obsessed with her. But we could never ever have dreamed that he would hurt her.”
Stephanie’s body was discovered on New Year’s Eve 2022 in her West London flat and her killer, who carried out the attack when she refused his advances, was jailed for life in March this year.
Losing both Stephanie and his closest family has left Scott feeling crushed.
He says: “As well as losing my entire family, I’ve had to go through the trauma of my sister’s murder, and the trial.
“Christmas is especially hard.”
Scott is now calling for greater regulation around e batteries, and wants to highlight the risks associated with buying second hand, to prevent further tragedies.
“I thought I was saving money, which is something all young families try to do, especially around Christmas,” he says. “I would never have had the battery in my home if I’d known there was a risk.”
