A teenage boy has told how he dramatically helped to rescue a man who had jumped off a bridge into the river Shannon.
Keen rower Brian Hogan (16) had just left St Michael's Rowing Club in Limerick on Sunday afternoon with a number of friends when they spotted the man falling from the Shannon Bridge.
Eyewitnesses said the 25- year-old man jumped from the bridge after first hurling a suitcase or holdall bag into the swirling water below.
Heroic Brian, a fifth-year student at Ard Scoil Rís in Limerick, and two of his rowing pals immediately launched a speedboat from the club and set off in pursuit of the man who was struggling in the water.
"Five of us were just leaving the rowing club when we saw a bag falling from the bridge and then a man went in after it. One of the lads had a mobile phone and rang the emergency services while three of us launched a boat with an outboard motor and went out towards the man in the water," said Brian, who has been a member of St Michael's Rowing Club for four years.
When they reached the man in the water, Brian said they threw a life buoy towards him and convinced him to grab hold of the buoy.
"The buoy was attached to a rope and we towed him to the quay wall where he was able to climb out himself. He must have been in the water for about 15 minutes and the current was quite strong at the time," said the secondary-school student.
The man from Limerick city was brought by ambulance to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.
A Garda spokesman said the man did not sustain any serious injuries.