Two men who came to the rescue of a man who fell into Dublin’s Royal Canal last week have been hailed as heroes after bravely putting their own lives at risk.
A woman named Catherine told Liveline on RTE Radio 1 that last Wednesday at 4pm she was walking along a stretch of the canal in Phibsboro when she noticed one young man lowering another by the arm into the water. She told Joe Duffy: "He reached in twice, first he didn’t find the man under the water, and the second time he did find him and pulled him up."
Catherine said she later learned that two young heroes were called Mark and Gavin, and it was Mark who pulled the man from the water. Catherine rang an ambulance for assistance, and emergency services including Dublin Fire Brigade arrived at the scene to treat the man.
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She said the man who fell into the water appeared to be having a “seizure”, and she suspected he sustained “very bad cuts” on his knees and elbow before falling in. Catherine said it was the Gavin and Mark’s “speed" that saved the man's life.
Catherine said: “They were like professional lifesavers. I think it was a miracle, and I just felt such a sense of relief when he started talking to us, and telling us where he was from and a little bit about himself."
Thankfully, the injured man is expected to make a full recovery, a spokesperson for the Dublin Fire Brigade said.
Catherine said that were were all relieved to hear that the man was okay, but she wanted in particular to thank the brave young men who went to his aid. She said: "They [Mark and Gavin] skipped off and they didn’t want any thanks from anybody, they were just lovely guys and I just roared after them ‘thanks very much’.”
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