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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Michelle Cullen

Brave garda who jumped into Liffey to save 'unresponsive' man from drowning hailed as hero

A garda who jumped into the River Liffey to save an "unresponsive" man has been hailed a hero.

Garda Sarah Lynam and garda Anna Duhova were on patrol along O'Connell Street in Dublin City on Friday afternoon when they were alerted to a report of a man having entered the River Liffey.

The two quickly arrived at Bachelor's Walk, where the man was seen in the water near the boardwalk.

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Due to fears for the man's safety, Garda Sarah Lynam immediately entered the River Liffey and swam to the assistance of the man.

The man, aged in his 50s, was unresponsive at this time.

Garda Sarah Lynam (An Garda Siochana/Facebook)

A rope was then thrown towards Garda Lynam, and the man was removed from the water with the assistance of her colleague and two members of the public.

Garda Lynam administered CPR before the man was taken by ambulance to the Mater Misericordiae Hospital.

Recalling the incident to Philip Boucher Hayes on RTE Radio One this morning, garda Lynam said: "It was a dock, but it was still quite high and obviously, trying to pull someone from the water isn't easy from a massive height.

"So I thought the best thing to do was to hold my breath and go under the water and push him up by his legs so that'd give the lads a bit of reach, and they were able to pull him out from there.

"I noticed his chest wasn't moving, and there was foam in his mouth, and I noticed that wasn't moving either, so staright away I was like 'oh my god, he's not breathing'.

"So I was like, next port of call is obviously CPR.

"We have a bit of basic training now, but I wouldn't be medically trained like the ambulance of the DFB (Dublin Fire Brigade), so I did CPR as best I could from my knowledge that I have, and luckily enough after 2 or 3 pumps to the chest you could see the water coming from his mouth, and the foam was moving, and his eyes shot open.

"And I think then everyone who was observing and had seen had massive relief".

Garda Lynam has been praised by the public for saving the man's life.

Taking to Facebook, one person said: "Bravo young lady very Dangerous what you done you saved the man's life God Bless you and keep you safe".

A second said: "Well done and a very brave act - great to hear good news about the Gdai ,hopefully your achievement will be acknowledged officially".

While a third wrote: "Absolutely brilliant work done to save the man's life well done to all involved".

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