A man has died after he got into difficulty in the sea when he went to the aid of a number of young people on Friday afternoon at Inch Beach, near Roches Point in Co Cork.
The man has been named locally as Stephen O’Callaghan (55) from Ashburton Hill in Cork City.
The Irish Coastguard in Valentia, Co Kerry received a notification that five people had got in to difficulty in the water off Inch Beach in Inch at 3pm on Friday.
The man was taken from the water in a serious condition. He was tended to by paramedics at the beach. Four people were rescued from the water.
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He was subsequently transferred to Cork University Hospital by ambulance, where he has since died.
A postmortem examination will be carried out on the deceased and a file will be prepared for the Coroners’ Court.
Those who knew Mr O’Callaghan paid tribute online to him after news of his death after efforts to save others came to light.
Paying tribute one friend wrote ‘’Awfully sad, god bless him, he truly died a hero. My heart goes out to the kids he saved and his family and friends. God give ye strength to get through yer heartache. Sincere Sympathies, May his selfless kind soul RIP.”
No funeral arrangements have been made as yet.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Irish Coastguard said that the centre was informed of the “serious incident” in the mid afternoon.
“The search and rescue coast guard units at Guileen and Crosshaven along with the RNLI from Ballycotton and Crosshaven were alerted. Rescue Helicopter 117 from Waterford was also tasked to to go to the scene.”
“Gardaí and the Fire Service were also at the scene and assistance was offered by the Irish Naval Service.”
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