A man who came within seconds of drowning off the Galway coast earlier this month after his foot became trapped in rocks as the tide rose rapidly has expressed his gratitude to two guards who saved his life.
“Had it not been for you, I wouldn’t be here. The tide rose so fast, I could feel it coming up to my shoulders, then I could feel it coming to my chin,” Killian Kenny told Randal Considine and Shane Riddell, the two gardaí who were awarded Commendations with Distinction after pulling him from the water near the Galway town of Kinvara on September 19th.
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Shortly before 5pm on that day the two on-duty gardaí received a call that there was a man in distress at a small rocky outcrop near Dunguaire Castle.
As many locals do when the tide is out, Mr Kenny, who is in his 70s, had walked out to the rocky outcrop which is only a short distance from the shore.
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However his left foot and leg had become trapped in the rocks and the tide had begun to come in dangerously quickly.
When the two Gardaí arrived at the scene, only Mr Kenny’s head was visible above water.
Garda Riddell ran for a lifebuoy while Garda Considine swam to the man and managed to free him from the rocks, and swim him back to shore, where emergency services were waiting.
At the presentation, Mr Kenny, expressed his immense gratitude to the Gardaí for their fast response.
“Randal, after going down to release my boot from the rocks, swam me back to shore. It was heroic. Had it been two minutes later, chances are it would be a different story,” Mr Kenny said.
Receiving his commendation, Garda Considine told Mr Kenny that they were “glad we got there in time, we got a bit of a shock when we looked over the wall and could only see your head. We’re happy to have got you out and safely back to your family.”
“Right place, right time,” added Garda Riddell.
Chief Superintendent Gerry Roche presented the two guards with the commendations in Gort Garda station on Friday.
Superintendent Ollie Baker of Galway County East said the response of Garda management “was one of total admiration for what the two members did.
“They just acted on instinct and it is a real testament to them; everything they did was phenomenal. It gives me great comfort that we have members of that calibre working in our area and responding and understanding the need to have an immediate response. It was a real team effort and it must have been a frightening, shocking and exhilarating experience all at the same time,” he said.
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