Wheelchair-bound Irishman tragically fails to save son in Philly blaze

A County Fermanagh man in a wheelchair tried to save his 19-year-old son from burning flames in Philadelphia last week.

Liam Doherty, originally from Tempo, County Fermanagh, desperately attempted to save his son, Thomas Doherty, from the basement of their burning home in the Laurel Springs area of Philadelphia in the early hours of Wednesday, July 8, but was unable.

Thomas died and his girlfriend, Veronica Conway, 19, is in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Doherty, who moved to the U.S. with his wife and children in the 1990s, suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair. 

Doherty was the first in the family to become aware of the blaze around 6 a.m. on Wednesday. He immediately tried to break the window of his son’s basement bedroom and shouted loudly in an attempt to wake Thomas up.

Some time later, Doherty’s wife and Thomas’ mother could be heard screaming as her son was placed on a stretcher, his clothes badly burned.

Witnesses at the scene said firefighters first rescued Conway and then returned for Thomas, who was trapped in the room for approximately 30 minutes. Conway was airlifted to Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Laurel Springs Police Chief Michael Wolcott said that officers arrived at 6:14 a.m. and were able to break the window but that the opening was too small for Thomas to fit through. A policeman got as far as the bedroom door, but his oxygen ran out so he had to turn back again.

Doherty, his wife and their two other children, Michael, 18, and Erin, 13, were treated at Kennedy Medical Center in Stratford for chest pains, smoke inhalation and shock.

It is believed the fire began in the basement laundry room right beside the bedroom where Thomas and Conway were sleeping. The couple was trapped in the room as it filled with smoke. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

“I could see smoke pouring out the windows and hear the father yelling," said a neighbor, who woke about 6:10 a.m. to the sound of fire alarms from the Doherty household.

Thomas worked with his dad in the family business, LTD Construction. He was an avid drummer and loved going to concerts.

He would perform at family gatherings with his band Shoe the Shoeless. Thomas played football at Paul VI High School in Haddonfield, where he graduated last year.

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Nster.com