Brit expat dies in hospital months after getting trapped in devastating Spanish wildfires & suffering horror burns

A BRIT woman has died in hospital two months after getting trapped in the devastating Spanish wildfires and suffering horror burns. Expat Michelle Leake is the ninth UK national to have lost her life in the deadly wildfires that ripped through Almeria province on July 9. Expat Michelle Leake has died two months after getting trapped in a devastating Spanish wildifre Credit: Solarpix Burnt cars after Los Gallados fire next to Beda village, Almeria, in July Credit: EPA She was being treated in an intensive care unit at Seville’s Virgen del Rocio University Hospital before she succumbed to her injuries. Ten women and five men were killed in the raging wildfire after getting trapped in the village of Bedar. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Officials say Michelle had been based in Spain for more than 20 years. She normally lived in the agricultural town of Canjayar, around a 90-minute drive from Bedar, but is said to have been caring for an elderly lady in the village. She was trying to flee the area with the woman when she was left with “devastating injuries”. Her sister, Sharon, said the fireball swept towards the pair while Michelle was helping the woman out of a vehicle. She said that Michelle suffered burns to more than 40 per cent of body and had to be heavily sedated on a ventilator. Sharon said that her sister has “always been the one for helping others, never expecting anything in return”. Most read in The Sun Michelle was being treated in an intensive care unit at Seville’s Virgen del Rocio University Hospital Credit: Solarpix Nine Brits died after the Almeria wildfire ripped through the province Credit: Getty She added: “Michelle has lost so much. The family she worked for have also suffered unimaginable losses. Our hearts as a family go out to them.” Mum-of-three Lisa Fryett, another victim of the Bedar wildfire, died in the same Seville hospital on July 28. The 47-year-old, from Canvey Island, Essex, was staying near the village with her partner Simon Batchelor, who was also airlifted critically injured to the hospital’s specialist burns unit after being rescued by police. Seven UK nationals were confirmed to be among the dead in the days after the blaze, along with three people from Belgium, one from France, one American and one Spaniard. Ian Jarvis, originally from Headcorn, Kent, was named as a British victim. His wife Dawn survived. A 93-year-old British woman who has not been formally named died in hospital three days after the first 12 people were killed the day the wildfire started. The Brits killed included expat couple Pete and Fran Gillam, whose Sheffield-based daughter Danielle Gillam-Kirton flew to Spain after receiving no information on their whereabouts. Earlier this week Danielle, an assistant headteacher, claimed police had botched an investigation into her parents’ deaths. She continues to press for answers about the tragedy and the response to it from Spanish officials. Danielle claimed Civil Guard officers had told her the vehicle her parents died in had been “inspected meticulously” and no possessions found. But she later discovered a bone she took for a human hip bone on the front seat of the burnt-out car when she was invited to search it. She also found her parents’ mobile phones, keys, jewellery and money. Danielle told the Guardian: “The whole sequence is incredibly difficult to understand. “We were told there was nothing left, and yet when we were finally able to look ourselves, we found significant personal belongings and what appeared to be human remains.” Comment now