A man has been dubbed a hero after rushing to rescue a young boy struggling in the water at a beach in West Cork on Sunday.
He had to jump into action at the weekend when saw that a young boy was beginning to struggle in the water.
The incident occurred at Owenahincha beach and according to the child's mother, "it could have been a lot different" had the good samaritan not been there to jump in and save her son.
Timmy O'Driscoll, from Knocknaheeny, was relaxing on the beach with his partner and two kids on a sunny Sunday afternoon when he spotted a young boy being dragged out to sea.
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Timmy told Cork Beo that he saw a young boy and a man playing in the water before a lifeguard on duty told the pair they needed to move to safer water between the flag markers.
"They were swimming away and the lifeguard came over to say 'get back between the flags,' that it was too dangerous, then the lifeguard when back to his own duties," Timmy said.
"The boys were back in the water anyway, and I was watching, and saw that the tide was dragging them back out."
Timmy explained that while "the older fella made it back out of the water", the other young boy could not swim back to shore.
"He was a kid, maybe around 11 or 12, and he couldn't get back, his head kept going under the water.
"I just took off down the beach, the other fella said he couldn't go in for him, he couldn't swim.
"I just went into the water and grabbed him to get his head above the water."
He said that the boy was so far out that even Timmy, who is 6 foot 2, couldn't touch the bottom and was desperately trying to keep himself afloat along with holding up the child.
Describing the panicked situation, Timmy told Cork Beo: "I just thought, he has to get back or we're not going home at all after this."
"I just kept shouting at him to 'kick your legs, kick your legs,' and when he told me he was too exhausted to kick, I just told him 'we're gone if you don't.’
"I could see the waves coming in, and they were really big, I'm 6 foot 2 and they were coming over my head, I don't know where I got the strength, but I managed to throw him up over the coming wave and it brought us back towards the shore.
"I still couldn't touch the floor and the poor chap's head kept going back down under the water."
After being pushed towards the shore, the two managed to make it back to the safety of the beach. Timmy said that the scary situation "must have only been about five minutes, but it felt like an hour out there.
"Thank God we were both grand when we got back, every time he went under he had his eyes and mouth closed so he didn't swallow any water."
Timmy said that as he brought the boy out of the water, the lifeguard was on his way down to the water's edge with a surfboard. The lifeguard assessed the child, who was given the all-clear.
"I did lifeguard training when I was in primary school, it was training where you get into the water with layers of clothes on so you learn how to swim in clothes and save people.
"Another person might just freeze in that situation, but I'm so glad I acted so fast or it could have been so different."
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