#RESCUE - A man has been rescued after falling on rocks and into the sea near Sheepland Harbour in Ardlass, Co Down yesterday 7 July.
BBC News reports that local lifeboat crews from the RNLI joined the Belfast coastguard and an Irish Coast Guard helicopter in the cross-border rescue effort, which saw the man airlifted to hospital in Belfast.
The man has reportedly fallen some 25 feet onto rocks and "bounced" into the water, according to Alan Pritchard of the Belfast coastguard, who added that family members were able to recover the man back into the rocks.
The full extent of the man's condition is not yet known, though it is believed he sustained significant neck and spinal injuries in the fall.
In the Belfast Telegraph, South Down MP Margaret Ritchie was quoted paying tribute to the rescuers.
"Were it not for this cross-border effort, we might be facing a very different story and it backs up my passionate belief that we must retain strong, effective coastguard services North and South and make sure that they work in close harmony with one another," she said.
