ON the night of May 7, 2016, a couple who were described as “inseparable”, Stuart Judah, 37, and Bokhabinyana Abrey, 30, fondly known as Khabi, were the target of an arson attack on their home, in Westcliff.

It was precisely one year, one month and one week before the Grenfell fire.

Lillo Troisi, 47, a neighbour with severe mental health issues, later admitted to starting the fire. Stuart was out at a reggae event at the time. Tragically, being eight months pregnant, Khabi had, at the last minute, decided to remain at home that evening.

At around 11pm, their flat began to quickly fill up with smoke. Khabi ran out the door to get to fresh air, but soon became disorientated and got caught up in the thick black fog and flames. Against emergency staff’s best efforts, both Khabi and unborn baby girl, KaRa, (meaning ‘returned to Love’s Light’), died in hospital two days later.

It was precisely eight years after the couple first met on May 9, 2008.

Quite ironically, Stuart had written a book in 2009, about what he describes as being the “universal and automatic gift of eternal life to all”.

It was based upon his own experiences, dreams and signs which he believes came from his father, Richard, 63, who had “returned to Love’s Light” in 2007.

Stuart says that these “undeniable signs” made him believe that death is not the end of life... or love.

“I feel my dad’s presence around me the most when I’m at work. I sense his pride” he says. “I used to work at Trent Park Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (W.R.A.S) where I met a lady who would frequently visit the zoo. She was always very quiet and seemed very thoughtful. It transpired that her mother had recently passed away,” Stuart recalled.

“I explained to her that she should try not to be too sad, as her mum hadn’t really died, but had just gone out of sight and, like when the sun goes down, yet continues to shine, so too is her mum still shining, just hidden from view by perspective. Her whole demeanour changed instantly. We saw less of her after that, but she was much more cheerful and gave me a thank you card and chocolates.

“Then, years later, I was relating my experiences and beliefs regarding life and afterlife to Khabi, as I was trying to help her come to terms with her own father’s passing into spirit. She insisted I write a book about what I had told her. So that’s just what I did.”

He continued: “By writing this book I wanted to explain to people that the saddest thing about ‘death’... is our misconception of it. When the body dies we remain alive; all life survives the death of the flesh, regardless of faith or belief, because it is a universal law. Only the experience of the next life is determined by what kind of a person you are on Earth.”

Stuart said that, since the fire, he has received many signs from his wife – and even his daughter – that match the kind of signs his father had been giving, which had already been documented in the book, so he has added a whole new chapter to include all the details of these experiences in his book: The Comforter by Judah Jah Love.

Among these signs, Stuart says is “the almost miraculous healing of a chest pain”, which he had been suffering with for six years.

“Just days before the fire, Khabi had promised to heal just this pain... some days after the fire... the pain was gone!” he says.

“I’m sure, when people read this book, they will be left knowing that their lost loved ones do, indeed, still exist and still love them. They’ll be comforted, hence its title.”

In the days following the tragedy, Stuart found his wife’s collection of poetry on her laptop, along with images and additional notes.

Stuart has turned the collection in a book - Spirit Wordz by Bokhabinyana Radiance LoveLight.

“It is exactly how it had been designed by Khabi, herself” Stuart says.

“She’d been writing poetry all her life and, just prior to the fire, she was struggling to sleep as she was heavily pregnant, so, in the mornings, I’d find she’d been up for hours already, writing, editing and compiling her poetry on her laptop,” he explained. “Her book was almost finished. It’s so sad, but I know she can see what’s going on and I can just hear her now... ‘Sho!’ she would say!”

“Khabi has such a beautiful spirit that she could brighten your day with a passing glance, so I really wanted to make reading her book feel as though one had just had the pleasure of meeting with her, soaking in her spiritual sunshine, so I scoured our photos for a few additional images to add to the book to complement her messages, and to more vividly convey her unique spirit; her LoveLight!” he explained, filled with emotion.

“Khabi’s poetry is almost prophetic, especially the poem, Rising Phoenix, which speaks of her consciousness rising up out of the burning flames of illusion and becoming one with the galaxies and timeless seas. It shows there really must be some sort of Divine plan to everything; that nothing is meaningless or hopeless; that beautiful things can come out of the ugliest of life’s experiences, so we should never give up, because, for all our tears, good things are coming our way.”

True to these sentiments, Stuart is celebrating both of their books being stocked in Southend’s branch of Waterstones bookshop.

“I can’t thank the management at Waterstones, Sascha and Virginia, enough. I’m over the moon, I really can’t believe it... my book next to Osho and Coelho and the like... it’s mind-blowing.”

Stuart related: “I could have been there the night of the fire and died with them, but, for some reason, JAH had a different plan, so now I feel it’s my duty to make sure that Khabi’s voice is not silenced and that our messages don’t go unshared. Reading the books in their final state has helped me tremendously, by reminding me of the truth, so I hope their truth sets the readers free from sadness and confusion, too.

“At times, it was really hard working on the books and going through all our pictures. Sometimes I’d sit crying and typing. I was working on them solidly, day and night, late nights, early mornings, over and over. I hardly knew what day it was and accidentally missed events and meetings.

“But it’s all been truly worth it, though,” he continued, “Writing, illustrating, editing and creating the covers for these books myself; self-publishing them and printing them in paperback, with very basic IT skills, while struggling with dyslexia and a very temperamental laptop and having to learn how to use professional software, using free trials on quick visits to the internet café to get these books looking how they do now and getting them stocked in Waterstones, does fill me with a great sense of accomplishment... for both of us.”

The Comforter aims to leave you knowing that life and love are eternal.

Spirit Wordz will take you on Khabi’s own, very personal journey from pain and anxiety to spiritual awakening, finding inner strength, peace, forgiveness and freedom. Her poetry celebrates African culture and deals with, amongst other topics, technology’s failures, mankind’s eternal nature and the joy of carrying life within.

“Getting these books stocked in Waterstones is such a triumph for us both, after such an awful tragedy, for us and for many, many others, as became so beautifully evident in the community’s response to it all.”