An elderly man has been airlifted to hospital after he was rescued from the sea in Co Clare this afternoon.
The man in his early 70’s had been shore angling with friends near Blackhead Lighthouse in the north of the county. It’s understood he lost his footing and fell into the sea at around 2.00pm.
He managed to stay close to the rocks and was pulled from the water by friends after about five minutes. In the meantime, the alarm was raised by other anglers.
The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard was alerted. Volunteers had been dealing with another incident at the Cliffs of Moher at the time and were able to respond quickly.
An ambulance was also sent from Ennis as the local ambulance based at Ennistymon was engaged with another call.
The Shannon based Irish Coast Guard helicopter – Rescue 115 – was also requested to assist and reached the scene within minutes as the crew had already been involved in a mission in Galway Bay.
The man was tended to by other anglers until emergency crews arrived. He was airlifted to University Hospital Galway about 90 minutes after being pulled from the water.
The man was said to be in good spirits after his ordeal.