Girl threw herself over baby to put out fire after petrol bomb

An 11-year-old girl is recovering in a hospital burns unit after undergoing surgery to treat injuries she received while trying to protect her baby cousin from a firebomb attack.

Roisin Halligan was watching television with her one-year-old cousin Lexie in their grandmother Nellie Halligan’s Waterford City home on Thursday when a petrol bomb was thrown through the front window into the sitting room. Lexie suffered burn injuries but would almost certainly have been in a worse condition but for the actions of Roisin.

“Roisin saw Lexie on fire and threw herself on Lexie to put out the fire. Roisin is very badly burnt,” the girls’ aunt Linda said at the house in Ardmore Park in the Ballybeg area of the city.

Nellie Halligan said she was in her kitchen at the time and heard another of her daughters running down the stairs screaming. She then used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

“Roisin was saving the baby, but got the full blast. I put out the biggest part of the fire and started shouting to the girls, ‘Will you get wet towels’. I had to do something,” she said.

Both girls were brought to University Hospital Waterford by ambulance, with their three-month-old cousin William who suffered smoke inhalation. Roisin was later moved to Cork University Hospital.

It’s understood she underwent surgery yesterday to receive skin grafts after suffering burn injuries to her face, arms, back, and legs.

A 23-year-old man was arrested on Thursday night in relation to the incident.