A man is reported to have spent 10 hours in the sea off County Louth was rescued after his inflatable dinghy collapsed. He was saved by an Irish Coast Guard helicopter and found in a stable state.
The 40-year-old man belongs to the Newry area in Northern Ireland. On Monday, 26 July, He went into the Irish Sea at Whitestown beach, Dundalk, reported by Irish broadcaster RTÉ.
When the incident was reported to the Police, they instantly alerted the RNLI at 21.45 local time. The coastguard started the search and found the man when after he heard shouting. The man was really tensed up when the pilot boat found him and was immediately transferred to the Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
The rescue team involved the marine rescue coordination centre in Dublin, Kilkeel lifeboat, a rescue helicopter and a local pilot boat, the Mourne.
When the coastguard was inquired about the man’s condition, he said that he was wearing a flotation device that contributed to his survival.
Gerard O’Flynn, the Coast Guard’s head of operations, said that the man had a narrow escape after he went out on the water on a “dreaded inflatable toy”, reported by RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
After the incident, he urged the general public to resist using inflatable devices in open water.
“They are back garden toys, and that is as far as they should go,” Mr O’Flynn said.