Praise for quick thinking lifeboat helmsman

The Lough Swilly Lifeboat helmsman has been praised for his quick thinking in the dramatic rescue of man and an eight-year-old child at Portsalon on Saturday afternoon. The casualties were from a group of two holidaymaking Dublin families. A man and woman had been kayaking with an eight-year-old girl when they got into difficulty and began to be swept out to sea. The kayaks capsized in high winds and the man and girl were stranded in very deep water. The woman managed to struggle ashore to raise the alarm. The Marine Rescue Centre based at Malin Head requested the launch of the Lough Swilly RNLI Inshore Atlantic 85 Lifeboat, and they arrived on the scene within seven minutes. When the Lough Swilly Lifeboat arrived the man and young girl had been in the water for around half an hour and the child was clinging to the man’s chest as he tried to support both of them in the water. Helmsman George O’Hagan said: “We were extremely fortunate that we found them so fast, given the conditions at the time and swell it would have been exceptionally difficult to see them from a distance.” Joe Joyce, of RNLI, praised the quick thinking of helmsman O’Hagan who anticipated the pair would be swept toward Fanad Head. “They were poorly dressed in summer clothes, which provided no protection from the elements and increased the risk of hypothermia,” he said. “George has a fair knowledge of the Lough so he caught them before they got any further out. “Had we have used standard procedure we would have to have started from the known point, which may have taken us another 20 to 40 minutes.” Mr Joyce added: “As you can appreciate, with the risk of hypothermia every minute is crucial because the core temperature drops and you lose the ability to keep yourself the right way up.” The man and the eight-year-old girl were swiftly brought ashore by the Lifeboat where they were cared for by the Ambulance Service. The eight year-old was then transferred to Letterkenny General Hospital for assessment.