A YOUNG Galway city man has died following a diving accident in the United States.
Keith O’Reilly (22) from Woodhaven, Merlin Park, died over the weekend, two days after the accident.
The exchange student suffered injuries after apparently diving from a pier at North Avenue Beach into shallow waters in Lake Michigan at 4.10am on Thursday.
His parents Yvonne and Liam, who flew out from Ireland at the weekend, were at his bedside when he passed away at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, shortly after 6pm local time on Saturday.
A colleague, who was with him at the time he entered the waters of Lake Michigan, tried to rescue him and raised the alarm. The emergency services, firefighters and police were quickly on the scene.
The O’Reillys have four other children. The young student is also survived by his grandparents and a wide circle of relations and friends.
Galway City councillor in the Merlin Park area Terry O’Flaherty said it was very tragic for the family and friends of the young man and she extended her heartfelt sympathy to them.
It is understood Mr O’Reilly was in the US on a J1 visa and working for the summer at a hotel in Chicago. He was among a group of about 30 students who were also on summer work in the city. Some of the shocked young students were keeping vigil in the hospital.
A postmortem was being carried out yesterday. Arrangements have yet to be made to bring Mr O’Reilly’s body home.