Man rescued from grounded boat

A MAN rescued from a boat that had ran aground on Illaunmore, the largest island on Lough Derg, on Sunday night remains in a stable condition in hospital.

It is believed that the man, the sole occupant of the 17-foot boat, was taken ill before the boat grounded at Tinker’s Point on the southern tip of the island that is north of Whitegate.
The alarm was raised shortly after 11.30pm when a man abroad another boat spotted the grounded vessel. The RNLI lifeboat, based at Dromineer, was launched and the crew discovered a man in the helm’s seat of the boat. He was unconscious and appeared hypothermic.
The three RNLI crew members transferred the unconscious man to the lifeboat and administered first aid before returning to shore at Dromineer where a waiting ambulance brought the man, who is in his 60s, to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick.
Also last week, in an unrelated incident, a woman in her mid-20s had to be airlifted to hospital after she sustained a fractured ankle in a fall on a small island off Freagh Point, close to Miltown Malbay.
The injured woman, believed to be from the Kilrush area, had walked out onto the island with a companion at low tide. However, she fractured her ankle in a fall on the rocks and was in danger of being isolated on the island by the incoming tide.
While on a training exercise in Lahinch Bay, Doolin Coast Guard Unit was tasked by MRCC Valentia and on arrival, at the scene team members assessed the casualty and splinted the fractured ankle.
The Shannon Coast Guard Rescue helicopter had also been tasked and the woman was airlifted to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for treatment.