Brave Derry women who rescued two people from Lough Swilly receive national water safety award

Rebecca Ebbs and Zara Reid recently attended the Water Safety Ireland National Awards ceremony, at which they were honoured for their heroism.

In May of this year at the Shorefront, Buncrana, Rebecca and Zara became alerted to two females in distress in the water. Both Rebecca and Zara entered the water, which was very choppy, however they both managed to swim out to the females.

On reaching the swimmers they turned them onto their backs, placed their arms under the swimmers’ arms and brought both females to safety. Both females were taken to hospital and made a full recovery.

Speaking about the awards, Thomas Byrne, Minister of State at Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media said: “I want to commend the valiant efforts of these individuals who save others from drowning and to also pay tribute to the ongoing work of Water Safety Ireland volunteers who teach swimming and water rescue skills.”

Other awards for rescues in Donegal went to Donncha Maguire and Darragh Flanagan who rescued a person at Bundoran Beach in June.

Donncha and Darragh were on the rocks at Bundoran beach when they heard a cry for help. They immediately assessed the situation, entered the water

and swam towards the scene where they noticed a person was unresponsive. Using the cross-chest technique they successfully brought the casualty to safety, where an off-duty nurse and fireman performed CPR while the emergency services arrived. He made a full recovery.

Garda Emmet Cassidy, Garda Noel Gavighan and Sergeant Mark Colgan were also honoured after rescuing a man in Glenties.

In March of this year, Gardaí Cassidy, Gavighan & Colgan received a call regarding a male in difficulty in the water in Glenties. On arrival, they located a male lying on the riverbank on the other side of the river. Gardaí Cassidy & Gavighan tied crime scene tape onto Sergeant Colgan. He entered the water and waded across the river. Sergeant Colgan placed the male onto his shoulder and brought him across the water to safety. He made a full recovery.