Firefighter saves man from drowning
FIREFIGHTER Cameron McKeever was out for a swim on Sunday when he rescued a man in distress from the sea at the south beach in Greystones.
Cameron, a regular swimmer, was in the water on Sunday afternoon. ‘I noticed a man getting in and thought he might struggle with the cold,’ said Cameron.
‘He went off swimming down near the men’s. A while later I heard shouting and screaming, people were saying there was a man in trouble. There was a man near enough to me, and I asked him was he ok. He said “it’s not me, it’s that man over there.”
Cameron saw the person bobbing up and down and continued to hear people shouting to get the lifeguards.
‘I ended up getting to him first,’ said Cameron. ‘He was under before I got to him. I stopped and braced myself, then put my hand under the water. I grabbed him by the t-shirt and pulled him up. I told him he’d be okay. There was no fight in him, he was exhausted.’
Another man swam out to help bring the casualty in. ‘I didn’t get his name, he had a beard,’ said Cameron. The two rescuers took one arm pit each and began to make their way towards the shore.
‘It was hard work to get in,’ said Cameron. ‘People have been complaining about a rip down there, which I had dismissed, but there’s obviously an undercurrent of some sort there.’
He described struggling forwards, and seeing that they were not getting closer to the beach, with a current visibly going the other way under the surface of the water. Eventually, they were able to move forward properly. A woman swam over and gave them a ring, which they put under the casualty to help carry him.
The casualty was exhausted but well afterwards. Once he was able to speak again, he thanked Cameron and the other man for saving his life. His wife and children had been watching helplessly from the shore.
The lifeguards attended the scene as the rescue unfolded, with the area in which it occurred away from their station. Cameron believes that the flags indicating the safe area for swimming should be positioned on the beach where they can be clearly seen by swimmers.
Just as Cameron got back in to return to his swim, his pager went and he responded to a call with Greystones Fire Service.
With the fire service, he is trained as an emergency first responder, and also did some lifesaving training in his youth.