The quick thinking of a brave care assistant helped save the life and home of an elderly Elphin woman last week.
Patricia Hand was on her usual morning visit to a client in her 80s in the Elphin area when a lit candle in the home ignited a curtain and quickly spread to engulf a utility room.
The 44-year-old Dublin native, who has lived in Elphin for the last 10 years and has spent most of her life working in hospitals and in social care, bravely raced towards the flames in a bid to stop the spread of the fire.
She recalled: “I was in one of the rooms and the lady was in the kitchen just pottering around and next thing the fire alarm went off.
“I went into the room and when I looked in, the curtains were on fire and it was spreading across the ceiling. There was panic as the fire was spreading really fast, so I told her to get away and ring the fire brigade.
“I saw a fire blanket and fire extinguisher; I struggled opening it and was panicking and then I thought to myself to ‘just relax’ and I threw the blanket onto the fire. I got the fire extinguisher and got the fire out.”
Patrica said it was a very frightening experience, but her main concern was the safety of the elderly lady and her home. She said the utility room was badly damaged in the blaze but if she was not there, she does not know what would have happened.
She said her client has been very upset by the incident and badly shaken up.
“I always tell my clients not to light candles and to have a fire extinguisher in the house or a fire blanket, if we didn’t have that fire extinguisher or the blanket that day the whole house would have went up.”
Her husband John is hugely proud of the bravery demonstrated by his wife on the day.
“She never stopped to think about her own safety. Her focus was entirely on protecting the vulnerable person in her care and preventing the fire from becoming a disaster.
“It is fair to say that her actions may have saved not only the house but also the life of the resident,” he said.
