A man was airlifted from a beach in Co Clare on Tuesday night after he was “crushed” beneath a hay bale in a farming incident.
The incident happened at a farm in Fanore in the north of the county about 7pm.
It is understood the man, who in his 40s, was working with hay bales when one rolled over him. The man is understood to have sustained crush injuries in the incident.
The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard was requested to respond to the scene and assist the National Ambulance Service.
Volunteers had been training at their base at the time and were able to respond quickly.
Ambulance paramedics treated and stabilised the casualty before Coast Guard volunteers helped stretcher the man to the helicopter.
The Shannon - based search and rescue helicopter, Rescue 115, had been returning from a training exercise in Galway Bay when it was also tasked.
The helicopter turned around and routed to Fanore where it was requested to land on a local beach. Coast Guard members had secured and marked a landing zone for the helicopter.
The crew had intended flying the man directly to hospital however, as they were returning from exercise and did not have enough fuel, they airlifted the man to Shannon Airport where an ambulance was waiting to transport him to University Hospital Limerick.