Woman hurt in fryer fire

Just days after leaving hospital following brain aneurysm surgery, Ruth Yates, 58, faced another potentially life threatening situation - a house fire.

Mrs Yates' deep fryer blew up when she turned it on, setting the curtains in her Armagh St, Linwood, home alight and throwing her into the nearby lounge.

"I was standing by the stove watching it, waiting for it to heat up. It started making a crackling sound before it went bang,'' she said.

"It's lucky it didn't blow up in my face. The curtains caught alight. The force of the explosion blew me out of the kitchen into the lounge. I stood up and ran outside. I faceplanted into the garden.

"My right shoulder, arm and the back of my neck were badly burnt. I had minor burns on my ear, cheek and nose. My hair was singed. I couldn't stop coughing. But it was a silly, cheap old T-shirt that saved me from getting burnt worse.

" I can still hear the bang and smell the fire,'' she said.

The fire gutted the kitchen.

Neighbours, Alex Evans, 17, and his brother Logan, 15, tried to put out the fire with a garden hose.

"They were brilliant. Even when the fire brigade arrived they were still trying to put out the fire. They probably helped constrain the fire because the firemen were worried it was going to get into the roof but it didn't.''

Four days prior to the blaze, Mrs Yates had been discharged from hospital after surgery for a brain aneurysm.

"I'm pretty lucky. The neighbours thought I wasn't going to make it. I can't go back there. Too many bad memories for me. My chest is still sore but I am getting there.

Mrs Yates said she'd like to thank everyone who helped.