In the early hours of Sunday, January 7th, Ballyglass RNLI, located in north-west County Mayo, was called to the aid of an injured fisherman. The volunteer crew was alerted by Malin Head Coast Guard to launch their all-weather lifeboat at 3am after receiving a report of an injured fisherman. The request was for the lifeboat to meet the vessel the fisherman was on in Broadhaven Bay.
Under the command of Coxswain Francie Gibbons, the lifeboat launched shortly after with five crew onboard and made its way to the scene. Despite challenging weather conditions with a south easterly force 2-3 wind and a 0.5-1m swell, the crew arrived on scene at 4.30 am and assessed the situation.
A decision was made to transfer the casualty onto the lifeboat, where he was then brought back to shore at Ballyglass Lifeboat Station. The ambulance service was on standby and took over the care of the injured fisherman at 5.10am. Ballyglass Coast Guard was also on hand to provide assistance.
In a statement, Ballyglass RNLI Coxswain Francie Gibbons said, "We would like to extend our best wishes to the casualty for a speedy recovery. We would also like to commend our own volunteers and our colleagues in the Coast Guard and ambulance service for their work in the early hours of the morning. This was an example of great collaboration between all the services involved."