THREE-YEAR-OLD RESCUED FROM POND
Three-year- old Crystal O’Driscoll was rescued from a pond located at the old army camp site in Fermoy, where whe was found stranded on a rock and up to her neck in water having chased after a ball.
Fermoy local, Chris O’Donovan who is well-known for his work with the Wheely boat on the Blackwater, says he was simply ‘in the right place at the right time’ at about 12.30 on Tuesday when he spotted Crystal sitting on a rock in the middle of the pond. "It was lucky she had the presence of mind to stay on the rock," he said.
“I took my dog for a walk and I got held up because I was on the phone with a friend of mine and I saw her sitting in the middle of the pond. I ran into the water and it was just below my waist, and she’s only three so it was up to her neck. It’s frightening really.
“Where she was in the pond, it was below eye line, so she would have been out of vision. When I picked her up, she was like a koala bear clinging onto me and she was hysterical, crying,” Christopher told The Avondhu.
It is understood that Crystal was playing ball with her brother Paudie when the ball went into the water and Crystal followed after it.
Becoming stranded in the pond, and with it being slippery underfoot, meant she couldn’t get out but she managed to find a rock to sit on in order to keep her head above water.
“Her brother was running up and down the bank frantically, and when I looked over the bank, her head was just above water. In a normal summer the pond would be slippy enough but it would be drier. With all the rain we had, it was deeper than normal,” Chris added.
Chris notes that this instance was a ‘tragedy diverted’ and while there have previously been instances in which animals were rescued from the ponds there, this is the first time he is aware of where a child needed to be rescued.
“In my voluntary work, I work with children all the time and in my training with the Wheelyboat, I understand children and the need for safety with water.
“I was really in shock afterwards but I went back to the family to check on her and she’s okay now. Crystal is safe and that’s the main thing. I’m a happy man today, that’s all I can say,” Christopher added.
Chris was hailed a hero by Patricia Messinger on C103 on Wednesday and a number of listeners also paid tribute to him. Emma O’Driscoll, Crystal’s mother, thanked Chris for saving her three-year-old and says Crystal has since seen a GP ‘and is well’.
‘VERY LUCKY’
According to Emma, Crystal and her five-year-old brother Paudie were playing with a ball and chased after it. Crystal’s father had gone around the opposite side of the pond looking for her but couldn’t find where she had went.
“When he (Chris) brought her out to me, her lips were purple and both she and Chris were soaking wet. It could have been an awful lot worse. She’s fine now, but she’s very afraid and it’s all she can talk about, but we’re very lucky she’s okay,” Emma said.
Having previously spoken to The Avondhu about her family’s living conditions, Emma, who has been living in a caravan parked inside the entrance to the former Fitzgerald Camp, claims her family are ‘exposed to every danger’.
The ponds, Emma says, are roughly 50 steps from their caravan, where the family have been living for a year now, while the busy main road poses another threat to her young children.
“They normally play on the green, and this is the first time this has happened, but I’m not going to leave them out now. I can’t take the risk. Something similar happened before when a ball went out onto the road and they chased after it and were nearly hit. They’re exposed to every danger.
“This would have never happened if we were in a house. We need somewhere with a secure area where the children can play in safety. It has been going on too long now,” Emma said.