Rescued: teen who survived 15 hours at sea
A DAY that began with the most unspeakable fear ended in unbridled joy and gratitude.
Speaking from her hospital bed, miracle teenager Ellen Glynn, who survived 15 hours in the open sea, said she is feeling “so happy and thankful.”
Ellen (17) described the stunning rescue of both her and cousin Sarah Feeney (23) as “all a bit crazy”.
The girls from Cappagh Road, Knocknacarra, Galway city, were found shortly after 12pm clinging to a buoy of a lobster pot, south of Inis Oirr — and 17 miles from where they set off paddleboarding last night on Furbo beach.
The girls left the shore at 9.05pm and were quickly carried out to sea and disappeared from view within 20 minutes, leaving Sarah’s mother Helen, who was watching from the shore terrified.
Ellen revealed the Coastguard rescue helicopter and two boats narrowly missed finding them during the night.
Neither of the vessels or helicopter could see them in the water or hear their screams.
But despite their ordeal, Ellen said she never lost hope of being rescued and being reunited with her family.
Speaking yesterday just hours after their rescue Ellen, sounding joyful but weary, said she was feeling “good, but just a bit drained”.
“It’s so crazy, but I’m feeling fine,” she said. “I wasn’t too scared.
“We kind of figured that when it was bright outside, we would be seen easier because last night, it was complete darkness.
“There was a helicopter and two boats looking for us, and we could see them, and we were screaming, but they just missed us. But we figured in the morning they would find us,” she said.
However, as the minutes and hours ticked by Ellen and Sarah lost all sense of time, and their fear grew that nobody was looking for them in the right place.
“We thought it was five o’clock in the evening, and we hadn’t seen a single boat out. But it was only about 12. Then we got home, and the whole county (of Galway) and Clare was out looking for us. It was crazy,” she added.
“Thank you so much to everyone. I’m just so happy and thankful,” Ellen said.
Speaking just minutes after he heard his daughter and niece were alive, Johnny Glynn struggled to find the words to describe his relief and happiness.
“I just can’t believe it; we are forever grateful. I’m so happy. I had given up. How could they be in the water from 9.30pm?
“I wasn’t expecting to find them alive at this stage.
With tears welling in his eyes, he said: “I thought I would never see her again.”
Just moments earlier, Mr Glynn had been standing on a dune left of Furbo beach looking out to sea, his face the epitome of anguish.
A call came through from his friend Donie Garrihy, the owner of Doolin Ferries, who said both girls were alive.
Mr Glynn raised his arms to heaven and wailed: “They’re alive!”
Racing along the beach to his wife Deirdre and young daughter Alice (12), Mr Glynn dropped to his knees in relief.
“A fella called Donie Garrihy, a great friend of mine — the first man I rang last night. He was able to tell me where the boats were last night. And he just rang me there with the news.
“I thought he was just ringing for an update, but he said, ‘Johnny, your daughter is alive. You have two tough women there’.”
As Glynn packed his joyous family into the car to meet the helicopter flying overhead carrying his daughter and niece, he announced to the crowd: “I’m joining the priesthood now.”
His words were met with a cacophony of cheers, car horns, and clapping.
From first light, family members and friends of the missing women gathered together on Furbo beach.
As the hours ticked by, hopes began to fade, and silence gripped the assembled crowd, all staring unblinking at the grey seascape.
Shortly after noon, texts started to trigger panic with false news that two bodies had been recovered. Just as hopes were fading, the news the girls had been found alive filtered through.
Desperation and fear gave way to unbridled joy. Family members, friends, volunteers, and strangers began cheering, weeping and clapping.
Mrs Glynn said she never gave up hope. “I just felt the whole time in my gut that she was okay. She is so level headed and calm and strategic in her thinking that I just knew. I did think that she was just swept into a cave, and I said to myself that she would have deflated the board and wrapped it around themselves and waited until morning. I actually thought we would meet her walking along the road somewhere.”
Speaking about her daughter’s incredible resilience, she said: “Let her never say she can’t do something again. She is amazing.”
❝ We’re forever grateful. I wasn’t expecting to find them both alive at this stage ... I had given up