A hero who dramatically dragged a drowning teenager to safety on a Kerry beach the same day that a brother and sister died in the water less than 40 miles away has claimed: "If I hadn't delayed going home in order to answer a few emails, the kid was dead."
John Timlin, who runs brandonadventures.com in Fermoyle, Co Kerry, sprang to the rescue when he was alerted to the struggles of a teenager in the water off Fermoyle beach last Thursday week - the same day brother and sister Dessie Byrne and Muriel Eriksson drowned just along the coast at Ballybunion.
He revealed: "I run a mobile surfing school and had finished for the day about twenty minutes earlier but instead of heading straight home I sat down and checked my emails.
Read More: Family pays tribute to 'beloved' brother and sister who died after drowning tragedy in Co Kerry
"The next thing a guy knocked on the door of my van and told me there was a girl in trouble in the sea.
"I got out and her two friends were on the beach, but one of them was screaming hysterically while the other one appeared to be out cold and I struggled to understand them for a moment.
"They kept saying their friend was out there, but when I asked where they could only point to the sea and from the beach I couldn't see anyone at all.
'They had been jumping over waves and just having fun but there was a big swell that day and they were caught out.
"Her two pals got back but the girl didn't manage it.
"When I got on the surfboard and headed out for a closer look I spotted her straight away and for a horrible moment I was sure she was dead.
"The reason I thought that was she wasn't moving at all, I have been a lifeguard and know from experience when a person is in trouble they are usually thrashing around but she was completely still.
"I turned the board over, draped her arm around it and paddled it back in.
"Now I am far from a hero, I just did what I was trained to do, but I am certain, 100% certain, if I had gone home when I should have, she was dead.
"There was nobody else on that beach at that moment with the experience needed to save her."
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