This morning, the Irish Coast Guard operations centre received a call reporting a swimmer in difficulty off Balscaden beach in Howth.
The Irish Coast Guard team in Howth along with Howth RNLI’s inshore rescue boat were tasked to the scene.
Upon arrival the swimmer had been recovered by members of the public, including RTE journalist Dyane Connor safely to the shoreline.
The swimmer was treated at the scene by Coast Guard personnel before been handed over to ambulance paramedics.
This is fifth call the team have responded to this week, sadly one of them was for a swimmer who despite the efforts of the Coast Guard, RNLI, paramedics and a critical care doctor they didn’t survive.
In a statement, Howth Coast Guard said:
“We are very grateful for the response of the public in calling the Coast Guard at 112/999 to report someone whom they think maybe in difficulty.
“If in doubt call us out.
“We would also encourage swimmers to swim in groups and consider bringing a tow buoy with them when going into the water.”
Speaking after the incident Dyane Connor said she initially thought he was enjoying the waves and didn’t call the emergency services immediately.
“He would swim a little towards the shore and then float on his back and I couldn’t figure out if he was in difficulty or not,” she said.
“He wasn’t making much progress swimming to shore so we were growing concerned.
“I was wondering if calling the Coast Guard was an over reaction and if I’d be wasting the time of the emergency services”.
Dyane said as she was making the call two other members of the public had noticed he was in trouble and called the emergency services.
“Thankfully there was a life bouy on the beach and we used that to pull the man out of the water when he managed to get close enough. Members of the Coast Guard arrived then and took care of him”.
“I really want to raise awareness of the importance of calling the Coast Guard if in any doubt, I’m so glad there’s a positive outcome to this incident. It was a scary experience for me, I can’t imagine what it was like for the man.”