A man is recovering in hospital after he was rescued from a lake in Co Clare this morning after faint calls for help were heard .
It’s understood the man was in an inflatable canoe that capsized on Lough Derg off Moynoe near Scarriff.
The alarm was raised at around midday when calls for help were heard from the lake. Two men, including an off-duty firefighter, ran to investigate while another person raised the alarm. A major multi-agency search and rescue operation was quickly mounted.
Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from nearby Scarriff station were first to arrive at the scene. The National Ambulance Service and Gardaí were also alerted and requested to respond to the scene.
The Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard launched a rescue boat and dispatched another team by road while the Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat was also tasked. The Shannon based Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was scrambled too.
In the meantime, watch officers at the Irish Coast’s marine rescue coordination on Valentia Island in Kerry issued a radio message requesting any boats in the vicinity of Moynoe to assist if they were near enough to do so.
When first spotted, the man was about 400 metres off shore close to a lake marker buoy. By the time the off-duty firefighter, based at nearby Scarriff, and another man reached the water, the casualty had drifted closer to the shore.
The men launched two canoes and made their way to the casualty who by then was about 250 metres out on the lake. They located the man and were able to bring him ashore safely where local firefighters was waiting to assist.
An advanced paramedic arrived in a rapid response unit and assessed the man. When it was confirmed that the man was safely ashore, the other responding agencies were stood down.
The man was cared for by the advanced paramedic and firefighters until an ambulance arrived. The man, who was said to be ‘very lucky’ was later transported to hospital for treatment for hypothermia.
