There have been many extraordinary rescue efforts in Irish waters over the past year. One which few involved will ever forget lasted 22 hours, close to Downpatrick Head in north Mayo this past September.
It took 14 hours alone to set up the gear to reach the 40-year-old caver trapped at the back of a sea cave, and it involved some 40 members of the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation (ICRO), with support from four Coast Guard units and the RNLI Ballyglass lifeboat.
Coincidentally, it was close to where Ballina diver Michael Heffernan lost his life during a cave rescue in October 1997 - a loss remembered recently at a memorial event attended by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris at Lacken pier.
Brian MacCoitir, ICRO warden for the southwest region, held an audience in Tully’s Bar spellbound recently when he outlined the details of the multi-agency effort during one of the Kinvara adventure talks in Co Galway.
MacCoitir spoke to Wavelengths, and first recalled how the experience of the casualty as a caver was key.