#Angling - A sea angler has died after being swept out to sea by an unexpected wave on the Waterford coast.
As The Irish Times reports, the man was fishing on the shore at Bunmahon Beach near Dungarvan yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 25 August) when he was swept out by a large wave.
The man's friend, who alerted emergency services, entered the water to attempt a rescue but was unsuccessful.
Waterford's Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117 was dispatched to the scene and found the casualty face down in the water and unresponsive.
He was later pronounced dead on arrival at University Hospital Waterford. His friend was also treated for shock and for swallowing sea water. The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.
Unexpected 'rogue' waves are not rare occurrences, and all sea anglers should be aware of what to do in case they are swept out to sea, says one man who survived a similar incident in West Cork at the weekend.
Writing in the Irish Examiner, Colm Plunkett tells how the sudden wave washed him off the end of the Beara Peninsula where he was fishing on Sunday (23 August).
Plunkett, who spent nearly an hour in the water before rescuers alerted by his daughter retrieved him, credits his wearing of a lifejacket with saving his life as the current took him out to sea within minutes.
"if through telling others of my harrowing experience, on a ‘calm’ sea, I can get other fishermen to wear a lifejacket then it is an experience worth having but definitely not worth repeating," he writes.
The Irish Examiner has much more on the story HERE.
