Waterford Councillor recalls dramatic rescue of youth after cliff dive

A Waterford Councillor has spoken of his involvement in the dramatic rescue of a youth who got into difficulty after jumping from a cliff into the sea near a popular swimming area on the Waterford coast.

The dramatic rescue at the weekend saw the 18-year-old being winched to safety off rocks at a well-known County Waterford swimming area after a cliff dive went wrong.

The incident unfolded at around 4.30pm on Saturday, August 31, at Newtown Cove, which was packed at the time with people getting in their last day of summer swim.

One of those who witnessed the event unfold and who swam over to assist the stricken teenager was local Fine Gael Councillor, Frank Quinlan.

Speaking to Waterford News & Star he outlined the nature of what happened.

"I had just come back in from swimming, for the last day of summer and the place was packed," he said.

"I was sitting there having coffee and could see the three youths on the rocks and they were contemplating jumping in," he added.

"Then one of them jumped and I knew he was in trouble as soon as he surfaced."

Cllr Quinlan said he could see the event unfolding before his eyes and once the teenager jumped he immediately put back on his wetsuit and rang the emergency services.

"I said you will have to get the Coast Guard, because of where it was happening," he said.

The teenager had two friends with him but Cllr Quinlan said it was obvious they were unsure what to do to help their friend. 

There were two men fishing at an area close by known as the Guillemane and Cllr Quinlan alerted their attention to what was going on and the two men went over to where the youth was.

"They lifted him off the small rock that he was on and lifted him to a drier rock that wasn't being hit with waves," he said.

Cllr Quinlan then got a can of coke and having entered the water swam over to where the teenager was at Newtown Cove.

"I gave him the coke because I knew he would have to get sugar in him because he was very, very pale when I got to him," he said.

The RNLI lifeboat then arrived at the scene and Cllr Quinlan grabbed the rope of the boat and held it secure to assist the volunteer lifeboat crew.

He said the Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 117, then arrived at the scene and a brace was put on the teenager who was winched up into the aircraft and brought to University Hospital Waterford.

Cllr Quinlan said he "couldn't believe" how quick the emergency services were to arrive at the scene and was full of praise for their professionalism and how quick they were to tend to the injured party.

"They were at the scene within about eight to 10 minutes of the incident occurring," he said.

"It was incredible how quickly they arrived," he added

As reported in Waterford News & Star, in an online post members of Tramore RNLI outlined how they were tasked to the scene of the incident having received reports of a casualty on the rocks.

"The incident occurred at Newtown Cove on Saturday, August 31, and the local volunteer lifeboat crew received reports of a casualty in need of medical assistance," said the lifeboat organisation in its post.

Outlining details of the incident, the organisation said that under the helm of Dave O'Hanlon with Fergal McGrath, Nóirín Phelan and Dave McGrath on board, the lifeboat arrived on scene minutes after launching. 

"Casualty carers Fergal and Dave McGrath were transferred onto the rocks to assess and attend to the casualty who was being assisted by friends and members of the public," said the RNLI in the post.

Tramore Coast Guard Unit and Rescue 117 were also tasked to Newtown and Guillamene Swimming Club.

As Cllr Quinlan described, the RNLI also reported that the area was very busy with swimmers and fishermen at the time, who were out enjoying the sunshine.

"The teams worked together to ensure swimmers left the water and requested onlookers and fishermen to move to safety to allow the helicopter to commence manouveres," they said in their post.

Due to the nature of the person's injury and "the challenging position of the casualty on the rocks" a decision was made to lower a winchman to treat the casualty at the scene. 

Following initial treatment the person was winched from the rocks by the crew of Rescue 117.

Having been successfully lifted into the helicopter the casualty was safely transferred to University Hospital Waterford, to be treated for his injuries.

Meanwhile, Cllr Quinlan said "it's highly dangerous" jumping off the cliffs where the incident occurred.

He said he will be raising the issue with Waterford City & County Council to see if it can be made an offence to jump into the sea from the cliffs in that area.

"It should be an offence to jump in from the cliffs at Newtown Cove," he said. 

"Every year something happens and I will be seeing if it can be made an offence at the next Council meeting," he added. 

It's believed the teenager rescued at the weekend had only recently received his leaving certificate results and had attended a Debs Ball the previous day. 

While the nearby Guillamene is a very popular spot with swimmers, the area where the incident occurred is more dangerous and that is something Cllr Quinlan was keen to emphasise. He said the incident highlighted how, in a matter of seconds, circumstances can change from having a bit of fun with friends to becoming a very serious incident.