A MAN who jumped into the Boyne on St Stephen’s Day to rescue another man from the river described the dramatic incident yesterday and explained why he did not fear for his own safety.
Sylvester Mitorag (29), who had been shopping in Drogheda, Co Louth, with his seven-year-old daughter, said he had been an angler for 20 years and had “no fear of the water”.
Members of the rescue services who came on the scene a few minutes after the rescue said there was no doubt Mr Mitorag had saved the man’s life.
Speaking from his home in Drogheda yesterday, Mr Mitorag said he had taken his daughter, Wiktoria, to the Scotch Hall shopping centre, beside the Boyne river in the town, on St Stephen’s afternoon. They had just left the centre at about 2.15pm when he saw a crowd at the riverside and on De Lacy bridge, a pedestrian bridge over the river.
“A couple of women were screaming, ‘There is someone in the river.’ There were maybe 150 to 200 people there and no one jumps in ,” he said.
Mr Mitorag made two attempts to enter the water. First he tried to jump in from the bridge, but could not due to large safety railings. “So I thought to let him go down the river a bit, and I [ran] straight to Drogheda Port and jumped from there because there was a ladder there.”
This spot is about 250m from De Lacy bridge. The river was flowing quickly towards the sea. From the quayside he was able to jump in and was in the water about two minutes when gardaí arrived. They threw him a life ring and he took that with him as he swam out to grab the man.
“This guy, he was already going down and I just dived for him,” said Mr Mitorag, who is originally from Brzeszcze in Poland.
The man was in the middle of the river and Mr Mitorag jumped in ahead of him so that he could pull him to safety as he passed by. He held on to him for some four minutes until boats arrived from the Boyne Fishermen’s Rescue and Recovery service.
“I’m an angler for 20 years – I wasn’t afraid of the water; I have done swimming classes. I didn’t even think what if something happened to me. I just jumped because I was pretty sure I could do this.” The crew took the man back to their boathouse where paramedics treated him before transferring him to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in the town.
Wiktoria, who watched her father from the pedestrian bridge, said: “I am very proud of my dad.”
Meanwhile, in Limerick, the body of a woman who fell into the Shannon river on Christmas Day was recovered yesterday, writes David Raleigh.
The woman, aged in her early 20s, was seen entering the river at Steamboat Quay in the city at about 4am last Sunday.
A Garda underwater diving unit discovered her body in the river at about 1pm near the Clarion Hotel. Gardaí were joined in the search by members of the Limerick Marine Search and Rescue service.