FAMILY’S MIRACLE ESCAPE

It’s believed a build-up of pressure in an old disconnected back boiler may have been to blame for the Friday evening (April 26) explosion in the Harmin Drive property, which left a mother-of-two badly injured.

The explosion ripped out the fireplace, displaced the front windows and caused extensive damage to the living room and hallway of the bungalow.

Kamila Sobiecki, who is originally from Poland, was directly in front of the mantelpiece when the boiler behind the fire exploded.

She has been left with over 80 per cent burns and faces... Continued on page 4 Continued from page 1

...a long road of recovery ahead of her.

Her husband, Sebastian told the Times the 30-year-old mother-of-two was very fortunate to have survived the blast.

He said: “I was in the garage when I heard a massive bang. I ran into the living room and there was smoke everywhere.

“I saw my wife and started to feel about for the children in the dark as I thought they were in the room as well.

“But my wife had sent them out of the living room to allow her to tidy up, had she not done that they could have been killed.

“I just think of this as a miracle they were all not in the living room.”

He went on: “My wife was right in front of the fire when the boiler exploded. She has burns from her neck all the way down.

“The grate from the fire hit her full in the stomach and it is a real bad mess, that is the worst of her injuries.

“The doctors said they won’t know how bad her injuries are for a while, but they said it will be a long recovery and she will need lots of plastic surgery.”

Sebastian, who works in Ryobi, and full-time mum Kamila have lived in Glengormley with their children for the past seven years.

The 28-year-old described his wife as an “angel”, adding: “She is always full of life and everyone that knows her loves her. It’s hard to believe this has happened to us.”

Sebastian and his family rented the home from a private landlord and have been moved to alternative accommodation supplied by the Housing Executive.

He said they are now considering moving out permanently as his son is too afraid to go back to the house.

He said: “The Housing Executive have been brilliant in getting us into a new home; they were very quick and very good to us.

“I would want to say to anyone to check there is no boiler behind their fire and if there is to make sure it is properly disconnected. We did not know there was one and this could have been much worse for my family.

“We think there must have been some water left in the old boiler and with the fire on, the steam had nowhere to go and it just exploded.

“This could have killed my wife, and we can’t believe how lucky we are.”