A West Donegal man has gained one of Ireland’s highest honours at the National Bravery Awards.
Francis Doherty, from Kincasslagh, will today receive a Silver Bravery Medal for saving a woman’s life in a swimming incident at Carrickfinn beach.
Francis and his wife Francesca were taking a Sunday walk on the beach on May 15th 2022 when their ordinary afternoon took a dramatic turn.
Anne Gallagher and her sister Maureen Devenney had been taking their daily swim at Carrickfinn when a sudden turn in the tide pulled them out to sea. Anne and Maureen were both experienced sea swimmers, but despite their knowledge of the waves, the rip currents were too strong for them to move back towards the shore. Maureen managed to swim out of the rip, but Anne’s desperate efforts were in vain and she was caught in the centre. Maureen had the wisdom to know that she was not going to be able to help her. Terrified, Maureen reached the beach and frantically called for help.
Nobody on the beach felt confident enough to swim in what were now challenging conditions and Anne appeared to be over 300 metres from the shore.
A bystander was retrieving a life ring as Francis and Francesca approached. Francis, realising what was happening, immediately caught the life ring and started swimming out towards Anne. He called out to Francesca to contact the emergency services immediately.
Francis swam towards Anne but 20-25 minutes had passed and she was approximately 500 metres from shore. She was still on her back, but was exhausted trying to remain afloat as she continued to drift further and further.
As Francis approached, Anne remembers him shouting out to her, reassuring her that she would be okay.
Francis finally reached Anne and put her arm in the life ring. m. She remembers she felt drained, weak and no longer had any energy left to swim. He asked if she could kick, and she tried but then passed out.
Francis never let go of Anne, who was non-responsive, as he struggled against the current.
Luck was on both their sides as Francis spotted a surf wave coming towards them. He changed tactics and put Anne’s head in a headlock, swimming with the waves that thankfully took them towards the shore.
A group of men on the beach pulled both Anne and Francis safely to shore. Shortly afterwards, the coast guards, an ambulance and a helicopter arrived.
Anne was examined by the paramedics, and flown to Letterkenny hospital by helicopter but later transferred to Galway. Thankfully, she was released after three days.
Anne said: “I owe my life to Francis Doherty for rescuing me from a life-threatening situation and to my sister for having the wisdom to raise the alarm and seek help”.
For his quick-thinking efforts, Francis was nominated to the Deeds of Bravery Council for State recognition of his exceptional act of bravery.
The awards will be presented by Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl TD at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park, Dublin this Friday. However, Francis is a fisherman and is away at sea this week, so his wife Francesca and their two children will collect the honour for him.
Other recipients of the National Bravery Awards include Kevin Barr of the Greencastle Coast Guard, who was last year presented with a Gold Medal for saving the life of Geraldine Mullan during the Quigley’s Point road tragedy of August 2020.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Ceann Comhairle said: “Today the Irish State recognises and celebrates the noblest impulse in a human being, the impulse to risk our lives in order to save someone else’s. But just as importantly, what these awards also do is mark the importance of the lives that were saved and also those that were lost.
“I say this because in several instances, we are making awards where, in spite of brave actions and valiant efforts, lives were tragically lost. Those involved in these attempts know how hard they struggled, the families of those lost appreciate their efforts as do we, the Irish nation.”
