Limerick family whose house suffered massive fire damage enjoy change of luck

A PATRICKSWELL family whose home was damaged by a house fire, have had a turn of luck after winning €12,800 in the local lotto.

Yazmin Delee, 18,  was rescued from certain death after her sister, Julie Darcy, 30, saved her from her burning home.

Although the two sisters escaped without major injuries, there was extensive damage to the top floor of the house where the fire started. 

Now the family have been graced with a fantastic change in fortune after Yazmin, who has a rare chromosome disorder, called out the winning numbers to the local Patrickswell and Ballybrown GAA lotto.

Yazmin’s Nana, Julie Darcy senior was ecstatic with the win.

“We are delighted. We have had a bit of bad luck recently. My first great-grandchild was born, but he was born three months early. But he’s doing OK now. That was the start of it, but then we had the fire, which was a major thing, it destroyed the house upstairs and we were very lucky that we didn’t lose two lives that night. We very nearly had two funerals. To get this, it’s just great. There is a God after all,” said Julie.

“The money will be used to fix the house. My daughter, Yazmin’s mother, she was struggling. She has managed to get the money together to pay for it all. She has one bedroom done, which is Yazmin's room, but she herself doesn't have her own room done. She has been sleeping on the floor,” she added.

According to Julie, the stroke of luck couldn’t have come at a better time.

“We have been doing the lotto for years. Yazmin would call out her own numbers. They would be funny numbers if you know what I mean. Her mother asked her to call out her numbers. But this time she called out different numbers. There they were, they were the winning numbers,” said Julie. 

“The whole village is over the moon. Everyone is over the moon. It couldn’t have come at a better time,” she added.