A young girl who was rescued after falling into the sea near Dun Laoghaire Pier during Storm Kathleen on Saturday was “very, very fortunate’, according to the RNLI.
The child was walking with a man and another child at the back of Dún Laoghaire’s East Pier on Saturday evening when she fell in the water.
A number of people attempted to rescue the girl by throwing buoyancy aids or entering the water themselves; however, the sea was too rough.
The Dún Laoghaire RNLI immediately responded and managed to reach the girl in just over eight minutes.
Rescuers say her jacket was acting as a floating aid and she was in the ‘float to live’ position when the boat arrived.
One of the RNLI crew members jumped into the water and reached the girl before the crew pulled both back into the boat.
The girl is now expected to make a full recovery.
📟 Callout - East Pier, Dun Laoghaire 6.4.24 📟
Child in water. @DLCoastGuard @RNLIDunLaoghair @AmbulanceNAS @GardaTraffic @DubFireBrigade and #rescue116 all tasked. Child recovered and taken to hospital. Respect the water, heed the warnings!!! https://t.co/oFj6LCDsg8
— Dun Laoghaire Coast Guard (@DLCoastGuard) April 6, 2024
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager Ed Totterdell said the girl was very lucky.
“There was a lot of wind and it was pretty rough out there; we just got the tail end of Storm Kathleen so it was challenging,” he said.
“She was very, very fortunate. Nobody goes out there to get into trouble but she was very lucky.
“She had a couple of things going for her. She was wearing a puffer jacket that kept her afloat.
“She also, whether intentionally or not, was in a position we call ‘float to live,’ – she was on her back with her arms out wide which kind of kept her head up and kept her breathing.
“Then we also had the blessing of a large number of people on the pier ringing the Coast Guard very quickly.
“So, she was a fortunate girl.”
File photo of the Irish Coast Guard. Image: Irish Coast GuardMr Totterdell said the RNLI response was “phenomenal”.
“From the time we got the initial contact with the Coast Guard to myself, it was about 8 and a half minutes before the girl was in the boat – which is phenomenal, In fairness.
“The crew, they were really, really on the ball.”
Water safety
Mr Totterdell said people who were on the pier were desperately trying to get life rings out to the girls – but the waves were simply sweeping them back in again.
“It's something we'd urge people to be careful of,” he said.
“Certainly, throw life rings, throw anything you can to pull somebody in but never attempt to get in the water.
“There were a couple of people who were attempting to get in the water and you know, that's what happens, we all get a rush of blood to our heads, but you're better off just calling the emergency services.”
Clothing
He said the girl was very lucky that her jacket aced as a buoyancy aid – noting that it can often go the other way with clothing.
“You know, if she was wearing a jumper or something like that, that would get waterlogged and bring her down, again, that could have been a very different story,” he said.
He urged people to stay away from the ocean during stormy weather.
“Try and stay away,” he said.
“You know, things happen; people go for a walk and they don't realise the water is going to come up over the pier and it's very windy.
“So just stay away from the water at times like that and mind yourself.”
You can listen back here:
Main image is a file photo of waves crashing against the shore in Dún Laoghaire, 09-01-2024. Image: Leon Farrell/RollingNews
