Arson attack girl dies in father's arms
A four-year-old Limerick girl injured in an arson attack on her home died in her father’s arms after a three-day battle to save her life, the youngster’s grandmother said today.
Katelyn Ryan died last night at a hospital in Dublin following the petrol bomb attack on her Limerick home on Sunday.
Her mother Jackie and one-year-old sister Leah were also badly injured.
Katelyn’s grandmother, Nora Roach, today said she was heartbroken at not getting to see the four-year-old before she died and that the family would never be the same again after the attack.
“It’s terrible news, shocking news to find that your four-year-old grandchild died in her father’s arms,” Mrs Roach said.
She said she had been hoping to visit Katelyn at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, but did not manage to get there.
“I couldn’t get to her. I couldn’t get to her at all,” she said. “That’s the killing part about it.”
Jackie Ryan, 32, was transferred from hospital in Cork to Limerick, where she was being treated for severe burns and back injuries.
She broke a bone in her back when she jumped from an upstairs bedroom clutching her one-year-old.
Baby Leah was today being treated for burns in Limerick Regional Hospital.
There were nine people in the house when it was attacked at around 7am on Sunday.
Mrs Ryan’s husband, Robert, and five other children escaped serious injury in the blaze.
Mrs Roach described how her 63-year-old husband Jim had broken his leg trying to save the children.
“The man is going to pieces,” she said. “He sustained a broken leg jumping from the wall trying to save his grandchildren.
“He thought he had them all saved but he didn’t know poor Katelyn was still there until the fire brigade came.”
She said friends and neighbours attended a mass for Katelyn at the Roaches home last night. Flowers and teddy bears were laid at the door.
“The Roaches and the Ryans will never be right,” she added. “They will never be right again.
“And every time it will be her birthday or anything these are going to be very sad times for us because she will never leave us, because she is only four.”
She said Katelyn would be buried next to her great grandmother adding: “My mother will probably mind her for us.”
Yesterday a man was charged with the arson attack and remanded in custody.
