Protected in his mother's arms, Paul survived and as a child was told the story... that he and his mother were pulled from the fire, his mother was sent to a nearby hospital where she died.

It was 63 years later when Agnes' grandson attempted to locate his grandmother's medical records. Unsure where she had been admitted, he contacted the State Hospital. They confirmed that Agnes was admitted in 1925, but she had not died at that time, and in fact was still living and still a patient at the hospital.

Agnes, who spoke no english, had recurring visions of the fire. Declared insane and admitted to the asylum, she would never leave. Years later a lobotomy was performed on Agnes and she spent the rest of her life in a vegetative state. Paul was reunited with his mother in 1988, seven years later she passed away at the asylum.