Canoeist rescued in Shannon

A Limerick man who was in a canoe that capsized was pulled to safety last Monday evening in Shannon.
Terence Briggs was out hunting close to Illaunmanagh with teenager Kyle Harney when he saw the man struggling. He swam out into the estuary to bring the canoeist to dry land.

“Myself and Kyle were out near the graveyard; We were going shooting. We were right down at the reeds when we heard the screams for help. It took a while to locate him because it was nearly dark, but we saw him hanging on. I stripped off and went into the water, while Kyle called the emergency services. He was about 70 yards out and I managed to bring him back in.”
The man had been drifting in the water for a couple of hours and had little idea of where he was at the time of the rescue, according to Terence.
“If he could have swam in 40 or 50 yards he would have got onto the mud, but he had no concept of where he was.”
Terence admitted he had a few nerves before getting into the water. “I didn’t know if I should or not. I wouldn’t be that familiar with the water there. But Kyle had called his father who lives near the search and rescue, and he called the gardaí, but I thought I couldn’t just wait.
“There was a current but it wasn’t that bad. It was a bit cold when I got in but as soon as I hit the water, I didn’t think of anything else. The adrenaline was going,” he said.