Gardai yesterday praised the quick action of a young man who saved two young girls from "almost certain death" when he woke them in their blazing house and persuaded them to jump into his arms from an upstairs window.
Mr Pa O'Donoghue was visiting his girlfriend, Ms Sandra Greaney, at her house at Glencree Crescent, Mayfield, Cork, when she alerted him to the fire at the house of her neighbour, Ms Linda O'Brien.
Mr O'Donoghue rushed to the blazing house and smashed a window with a hammer in an effort to wake Ms O'Brien's two young daughters, Kelly (11) and Siobhan (8), who were asleep in an upstairs bedroom.
"I just hoped they'd hear me and they did. They came to the upstairs window, but the place was just black with smoke. Kelly came out first, and I told her to jump and just caught her in my arms," said Mr O'Donoghue.
"But the other little one, Siobhan, was too scared to jump so I had to climb up and just managed to grab her by the leg and I pulled her down. She fell into my arms and we fell back on the ground," he added.
Both girls were taken to the South Infirmary where they were treated for shock before being discharged.
It is believed the fire, which destroyed the house, broke out around 9 a.m. shortly after Ms O'Brien had left to take her third child, P.J. (7) to the doctor. Three units of Cork City Fire Brigade spent over an hour fighting the blaze.
Yesterday gardai at Mayfield Garda station praised Mr O'Donoghue's actions. "These children would almost certainly have died only for Pa," said a Garda spokesman.
An emotional Ms O'Brien also paid tribute to Mr O'Donoghue: "Pa's a hero. He saved my children. Only for him, Kelly and Siobhan wouldn't be here. We may have lost our home, but at least we're all alive thanks to him and Sandra," she said.
Neighbours and friends have set up a special appeal fund at the AIB branch at Old Youghal Road, Mayfield. The account number is 934100-28631082.