Gardaí have confirmed that a 37-year-old woman has died in hospital after getting into difficulty when trying to rescue her ten-year-old son from drowning in the sea off east Cork this afternoon.
The incident happened shortly before 1pm when the boy got into difficulty while swimming off Ballycroneen Beach between Ballycotton and Churchtown South in east Cork.
The boy’s mother entered the sea to try to help her son but she herself got into difficulty and the alarm was raised with the boy managing to make his way on to some rocks near the shore.
Ballycotton RNLI All Weather Lifeboat, The Austin Lidbury, was launched and made its way to the scene, which is east of Ballycotton, where it located the woman in the water.
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Ballycotton RNLI crew managed to recover the woman and bring her back to Ballycotton Pier in a rescue operation overseen by Irish Coast Guard Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Valentia.
The Irish Coast Guard helicopter from Waterford, Rescue 117, airlifted the boy from the rocks and brought him to Ballycotton Pier.
The helicopter then airlifted the woman, who was in a critical condition, to Cork University Hospital while her son, who was not seriously injured, was taken to CUH by ambulance to be assessed.
The Crosshaven RNLI Inshore Lifeboat also assisted in the operation, as did Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue units from Ballycotton and Guileen while gardaí were also notified of the incident.
Gardaí confirmed this evening that the woman – who is originally from Poland but had been living in Cloyne with her family for several years -died late this afternoon at Cork University Hospital.
Local Fine Gael Cllr Michael Hegarty said news of the tragedy had shocked and saddened the local community and people’s thoughts and prayers were with the woman’s family in this time of need.
“It’s very very sad – the family are originally from Poland but they were well settled here in the community, so our thoughts and prayers are with them but also with their family back in Poland,” he said.
“It’s very tough on the young lad but the local community will not be found wanting when it comes to rallying around and giving him all the support it can – our thoughts and prayers are with them all.”
