As we went to press, a man was described as being in a serious condition at University Hospital Waterford (UHW) having been being rescued by the Coast Guard and the RNLI in Tramore Bay on Saturday afternoon last.
The rough seas had knocked the man out of his rib boat ,which he had been using, after a big
wave hit the rib, a few hundred metres from Tramore’s pier.
The man in the rib, believed to be from Waterford city, had been wearing a wet suit and managed to start swimming to shore as he couldn’t get back in the rib, the engine of which kept running (the rib’s engine didn’t have a kill switch).
The fisherman in question brought him into the pier – the local RNLI were about to launch and provided assistance – with the RNLI crew recognising that the man had clearly ingested a lot of water and were concerned by his level of responsiveness.
The RNLI then requested assistance from the Rescue 117 helicopter, which was training in the area at the time. He was winched off the pier at 3.30pm approximately and transferred to UHW. “Every minute counts in these instances,” said Paul Tuohy, the press office with Tramore’s Lifeboat.
The rib was later recovered as it neared the pier.
Mr Tuohy said it was important to check boats prior to taking to sea to be aware of weather conditions, who cautioned that the water is still cold in June, therefore heightening the prospect of hypothermia when a person enters the water.