AN 11 year old schoolboy is fighting for his life after an attempts to save his pet rabbit from a fire went tragically wrong and he was badly burned.
Shane O'Donovan received 70 per cent burns to his body as he tried to rescue his rabbit from a blazing shed at his home in Park View Drive, Greystones, Limerick city.
The tragedy happened at 11 p.m. on Sunday night. It is believed that the boy ran out of the shed when it caught fire but as he went back to rescue the rabbit some lawnmower fuel which was stored in the shed ignited.
The youngster was saved only because his family heard his screams for help as his clothes caught fire.
Firefighters from Limerick city were quickly on the scene to fight the blaze and they wrapped the badly burned boy in a special water jell based sheet to ease the pain.
He was taken by ambulance to Limerick Regional Hospital but was later transferred to Cork University Hospital. A CUH hospital spokesperson last night described his condition as "critical".
