A 17-YEAR-old boy was seriously injured after diving from a pier in Kilkee, Co Clare, yesterday.
The teenager, understood to be from Limerick, had been swimming in the west Clare resort town and then dived into shallow water.
The alarm was raised at around 12.30pm and a major multi-agency recovery operation was mounted by the Irish Coast Guard rescue co-ordination centre at Valentia Island in Co Kerry.
The Irish Coast Guard and Kilkee Marine Rescue Service were called for, while an ambulance, rapid-response paramedics and a doctor were also sent to the scene.
Rescuers waded into the water and lifted the injured teen onto the pier where he was immobilised and had treatment for a serious head wound.
The Shannon search-and-rescue helicopter was brought in amid concerns that the teenager had head, neck and back injuries. A landing site was created at a golf club because the seaside car park was full. The young man was taken by road to the club and airlifted to University Hospital Galway.
Kilkee Marine Rescue Service chairman Manuel Di Lucia said: “The water was quite low at the time and too dangerous for diving. The young man dived in from the pier and struck his head on a rock. He suffered a serious gash to his head but we were worried he may have sustained neck or back injuries so we did our best to immobilise him . . . until the paramedics arrived,” he said.
“I am concerned that we don’t have a dedicated helicopter landing site in Kilkee closer to the rescue centre and pier.
“It’s not usually an issue in the winter but when it’s busy like it was today, the chopper has to land some distance away in the golf club and a casualty taken all the way up there,” Mr Di Lucia said.