Dunderry man fights for life after Lanzarote blaze

A DUNDERRY man is fighting for his life in a Spanish hospital after suffering severe burns to 60 per cent of his body when his apartment caught fire in the early hours of last Thursday morning. Noel (Noelie) Murtagh (49) from Fr Flood Park, Dunderry, was on holiday with his partner in Puerto del Carmen, on the island of Lanzarote, when a fire broke out in his apartment in the early hours of last Thursday, 11th September, the day he was due to return home. It is reported that Spanish policemen jumped from a neighbouring balcony into the apartment to rescue the couple trapped inside. The local fire service arrived soon afterwards and extinguished the blaze. The father-of-three suffered second and third degree burns to 60 per cent of his body and is currently in a drug-induced coma. Initially, he was taken to a hospital in Lanzarote, but was then transferred to a larger hospital in Las Palmas, on the neighbouring island of Gran Canaria due to the seriousness of his condition. On Sunday, he was flown to a special burns unit in Seville, on the Spanish mainland. His partner, Ellen Farrelly, who is also from Dunderry but living in England, is believed to have suffered burns to her hands in the outbreak. Mr Murtagh"s sister, Bernadette Brady, who lives at Reask Crescent, Navan, told the Meath Chronicle this week how she got a call last Thursday morning to say that Noel had been 'burned'. She recalled: 'At first, I thought they meant burned in the sun, but then they said there was a fire in his apartment and that he was in a critical condition.' Mrs Brady said the family are distraught and that Noel remains in a critical condition and there are still 'no guarantees' of a recovery. The doctors did not know if he would even survive the flight to Seville and his family were told that the following three days (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) would be crucial. She said their 84-year-old mother is very upset by what has happened and that, being an only boy, Noel is the 'apple of her mother"s eye'. Mr Murtagh has three children, Anne-Marie (23), Darren (21) and Kelly-Anne (13). His son, Darren, travelled to Spain to be with his father and was due to fly on to Seville this morning (Wednesday), which was the first flight he could get from Las Palmas. Mrs Brady is also planning to fly to Seville on Thursday to be with her brother. 'If I could have got a flight earlier and had a passport, I would have been out there at the weekend. We just don"t know whether we are coming or going,' she added. She said she is hoping to find out more by speaking to the doctors when she gets to Seville. It is not yet known how the fire started. Mrs Brady said it is possible that Mr Murtagh may have fallen asleep with a cigarette in his hand, but they simply don"t know at this stage. The visit to the Canary Islands was Noel"s first holiday abroad and Mrs Brady said she had spoken to him during the week and he said 'he was getting on okay but was counting the days down until he came home'.