A dentist is fighting for her life today after she plunged 30ft from a window to escape a fire only to miss a duvet held out to cushion her fall. Miss Pellinen, from Finland, has lived in the UK for more than 20 years and works at a dental practice in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex.Three men had held the duvet out in an attempt to catch Pirkko Pellinen as she leapt from her second-floor bedroom. But she missed it and landed feet first in an alleyway. Today, she was still in a critical condition in Royal County Hospital in Brighton, police said. Her long-term partner Alan Toole was by her side.
The fire had broken out in the 66-year-old’s wooden-framed house close to the seafront in Hastings, East Sussex, and ripped through the building. More than 200 people were evacuated from the area as 48 firefighters tackled the blaze at 12.30am on Sunday.
Bookshop owner Graham Frost, 69, said: 'The fire started about 12.30am. They had knotted bed sheets together right down to the floor to climb down and escape. 'Three of them then held a duvet and told Pirkko to jump but she missed and fell straight down. She was in a bad way, she was unconscious. 'They dragged her out of the alleyway because bits were falling from the building. The ambulance was called and the fire brigade. They took about 20 minutes to get here.'
Sussex Police have appealed for witnesses to come forward, as 35 people were forced to leave their homes and seek temporary accommodation.
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