Mayor's tribute to Waterford man who jumped into river to rescue a person in distress
Chalie Costello and his family gathered at his Mayoral Reception with Mayor Seamus Ryan.
The Mayor has paid tribute to a young Waterford man who jumped into the River Barrow to save a person in distress earlier this year.
The Mayoral Reception was held at the Mayor’s Parlour on Wednesday, where Charlie Costello and his family gathered to celebrate his heroism and bravery.
On April 1, this year, Charlie, while visiting his baby son in New Ross, saw a man enter the River Barrow at O’Hanrahan Bridge and went in to save him.
Speaking to the Waterford News and Star after the ceremony, Mayor Ryan said he wanted to pay tribute to Charlie, whose actions saved a life.
“Charlie didn’t think twice about going into the river in New Ross to rescue this man, and I think that is something we should pay tribute to because not everyone could do that.
“So, I do want to pay tribute to Charlie and you could see here we had his family in here this afternoon to receive the mayoral reception, and I think it’s important that as a city and a county we recognise acts like this and the bravery shown by Charlie that evening, I think it was second to none,” said Mayor Ryan.
Charlie told Waterford News & Star that it was nice to see so many people at the reception to support him.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it anyway, especially with what happened. I’m grateful for it,” said Charlie.
Reflecting back on the day in New Ross, Charlie said he didn’t know what was going on in his head, only that nobody else acted, so he did.
He said he was on a balcony in a nearby apartment building and on the phone to his friend when he noticed the man.
Charlie said he was used to seeing people there, but this time it just looked “wrong” to him.
He wasn’t certain the man intended to enter the water, but when he sat down to continue his call, he heard the splash.
“So I hung up and actually just threw the phone on the floor. Where we were, there were three apartments, three floors up. So, I had to run down the flights of stairs onto the ground floor and it was along the riverbank.
While I was going down, I picked up a buoy- the closest one to me and just kind of ran out. There’s a dock for the boats on the river, so I ran out to where that was and I had to jump two walls to get out there,” said Charlie.
Charlie said that when he got there, he wasn’t sure what to do.
But the man had been in the water for around 10 minutes at that point.
So, Charlie tied the buoy around his waist and went in himself.
“When I got in, it was, I suppose, a shock to the system at first. But when I got out to him, I was more like what do I say or what do I do just to keep him somewhat calm.
“The guard on the bank was telling me to swim to the bank of the river. But if you had put a measuring tape in the river, we were bang in the middle of the river.
“So I was trying to swim to whatever bank was closer, but there wasn’t one that was one bit closer, but I said I’d try anyway.
“I was getting nowhere, and I was in the water with him at that point for about ten minutes. I was getting tired as it was. I was trying for a few minutes and I was getting no where. So I ended up keeping him afloat and holding on, but that was it.
“When I looked down the river, I could see a boat and it was like looking down a dark tunnel and pitch black and then eventually the boats came and in fairness, they came as fast as they could, I suppose,” said Charlie.
Charlie said it was days before he processed what had happened.
“But it was only two or three days that were when it just kind of hit me and I was like, Jesus, what did you actually do there. I was thankful we got out of there safe,” said Charlie.
In his speech at the reception, Mayor Ryan said that the mental health crisis can be found in every city, town and village across the country and everything that can be done to address it should be.
“This is not an isolated case. Every community, every town and village in Ireland has been affected. Too many families know the pain of losing someone they love to suicide.
“We cannot ignore the reality that many people who are struggling are not getting the help they need. Too often, care comes too late.
“Sometimes what people need most is simply someone to talk to, a listening ear, a kind word, a reminder that they are not alone,” said the mayor in his speech.
Speaking to this paper on Wednesday, the mayor said he would like to say this to people who find themselves struggling.
“Reach out. Talk to a neighbour, talk to a friend. You don’t have to go through this on your own- that’s the first message.
“Charlie Costello was there that evening. He reached out to that person who was obviously in distress and he helped that person in distress.
“So, if you are in distress at the moment or things are starting to get on top of you, reach out to your family or friends or a neighbour and talk it through.”
