Child patient battled Seafield blaze

May 14 2008 By Lisa Boyle, Ayrshire Post

COLIN McKay got all fired up when he picked up last week’s Ayrshire Post.

It was bittersweet when the retained firefighter recognised a photo of himself propped up in bed at Seafield children’s hospital

Ironically, Colin helped battle the blaze at the old mansion just days earlier.

Now a 33-year-old dad of three, Colin tackled the fire for six hours.

And the memories of his stay there – almost 30 years ago – came flooding back.

Colin said: “My mum phoned me up when she saw the Ayrshire Post last week and said the wee boy in the photo was me. I couldn’t believe it. Especially since I attended at the fire the week before.

“I was in hospital for about a month, my leg was in traction, I had a slight limp.

“It brought back memories being there at the fire, it’s a real pity this happened.

“The hospital was a really nice place to be, it was a happy place. I remember being wheeled out onto the sunshine veranda and I remember playing on the big rocking horse just as you went in.

“The nurses and doctors were all lovely but I remember getting into trouble one morning for taking my traction off.”

Colin, who is also a limo driver, now lives in Troon with his wife and kids Kyle, 10, Natalie, 9, and Stephanie, 6.

He has been a retained firefighter for the past 11 years. Twenty firefighters are based at Troon and are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The team work closely with the team at Ayr and elsewhere.