Birr anglers brush with sea drowning
A Birr sea angler narrowly escaped death at the weekend thanks to the quick thinking of his 16-year-old daughter and his trusty life jacket.
Father-of-three, Colm Plunkett (53) was fishing at the end of the Beara Penninsula in West Cork last Sunday, when a “rogue wave” dragged him into the Atlantic Ocean around midday. Speaking to the Offaly Independent, he said that while he is an experienced sea angler, he was shocked by the power of the wave that almost cost him his life. Thankfully Colm’s daughter Orlaith, who regularly accompanies him on fishing trips, was further up on the shore taking photographs when the wave struck. Displaying admirable maturity, she implemented their pre-arranged safety plan and rang the emergency services immediately.
Despite the fact that he was wearing a life jacket, which he says ultimately saved his life, Colm admits that when a strong current took him half a mile out to sea, he feared “that this could be my last day”.
“I never came across a wave like the one that got me. It just gobbled me up. I was about six feet above the water and it took me and the bucket that I had fish in, which was wedged in the rock about eight feet higher. It was a huge wave. As soon as I went in I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get myself out. ”
“Even though I kept my back to the wind I spent 30 minutes or so fighting to get air into my lungs whilst spitting the sea water out of my mouth; as the waves broke over my head and the water ran down my face.”
With his body temperature falling rapidly and fatigue setting in, fortunately another current brought Colm close to shore and within talking distance of his daughter, who informed him that the coast guard was on the way.
He also managed to use the current to move towards the buoy of a nearby lobster pot and he “hung on for dear life” until the inshore life boat from Derrynane in Kerry reached him and pulled him aboard. They were quickly followed on the scene by the life boat from Castletownbere and the helicopter from Shannon.
With his body temperature life-threateningly low, Colm, who is a nurse in the Oncology and Haematology Unit in Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore, was brought by helicopter to Cork University Hospital for further assessments.
Describing himself as “physically fine but emotionally fragile” following his brush with death, he said he decided to go public about his almost hour-long ordeal in order to raise awareness about the importance of wearing a life jacket while fishing and having an emergency plan in place.
“I understand that life is not without risk and you have to live it but you need to be proactive to reduce the risk to as minimal as possible. That’s why I wear a life jacket and have done so for years. You might get funny looks and a 'hey who’s your man?’ but I’m still here.
“The members of the inshore rescue boat from Derrynane and winch man from the helicopter both told me that I’m the first angler that they’ve seen who was wearing a life jacket and I’m the first they pulled out alive.
“My main message is: I wasn’t lucky I was prepared but not nearly as much as I needed to be. A splash hood on my life jacket would have saved me from an experience somewhat akin to water boarding; a personal locator beacon (PLB) would have brought the coastguard directly to me should I have continued out to sea.
The lifejacket saved my life; the prearranged plan with my daughter, should one of us fall in, saved my life; the mobile phone saved my life; the emergency services saved my life. And if through telling others of my harrowing experience, on a 'calm’ sea, I can get other fishermen to wear a life jacket then it is an experience worth having but definitely not worth repeating!”