“Lucky to be alive” was how the father of eight-year-old Gearoid Rogers from Killaloe in Co Clare described his son, who today watched as the two teenage surfers that had dramatically rescued him from drowning earlier this year were among the recipients of Irish Water Safety Awards held in Dublin Castle.
Bernard Cahill (17) and Donough Cronin (16) both from Ennis were wading into shore after surfing at Spanish Point in July when they noticed Gearoid's mother Roz on the beach waving for help. When her son had been swept out by a rip current, Roz's husband Ger had swum in to save his son before becoming stranded himself.
"I looked up and saw that the lifeguards were leaving the hut and then I just said to Donough, 'I'm going'. Something along those lines, it was just instinct," recalled Bernard.
"I knew they were coming to save me," said Gearoid, who had drifted some 50 metres out from the shore with his father. "Bernard threw me up on the surf board and he brought me in and then he went back out to my dad," he said.
The rip current was of such strength that when the life guards arrived out to Ger, after Gearoid had been returned to shore by Bernard, they too needed the support of the surf boards.
"Their tanks were empty as well after running down the beach and swimming out. Only for the boards of the two boys, there was no way we were coming in," said Ger.
Heroically, both Bernard and Donough battled the tough conditions to form a triangle with their surf boards on which they managed to bring Ger back to shore where a thankful Roz waited with a shaken but safe Gearoid.
At today's ceremony, both Donough and Bernard accepted "Seiko Just in Time" Awards from Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan. They were joined by recipients from nine other near-death incidents win which a total of 15 lives were saved during the past year.
The ceremony also recognised some 1,150 years of personal service by 77 Irish Water Safety volunteers from around the country as well as several media appreciation awards.
The Irish Times was awarded the National Press Award for its coverage of water safety issues, which Irish Water Safety credited with helping to reduce the numbers of incidents of drowning in Ireland
The award was accepted by assistant news editor Joe Humphreys who joined representatives from TG4, the Donegal Democrat and Ross FM (Roscommon) as award winners.