Councillor: I’m lucky to be alive

A COUNTY councillor spoke for the first time yesterday of how a drunk driver nearly killed him in a pile-up on a Spanish motorway.

“I’m certainly very lucky to be alive. I was able to walk out of the car, but I had a chronic pain in my stomach. I subsequently found out I had been operated on for a ruptured artery going into my intestine,” Jim Daly said.

The 33-year-old councillor from Clonakilty, Co Cork spent two days in intensive care and nearly two weeks in a Spanish hospital. He left the hospital which is in the Alicante region yesterday, but is still waiting for medical experts to give him the all-clear to fly home.

The Fine Gael councillor — who recently lost out by a narrow margin on being nominated to contest the next general election in the Cork South-West constituency — said the accident happened as he and a male friend were travelling on a motorway at around 7am.

“We were hit by a drunk driver who was arrested at the scene by police. There were three cars involved and about five people were injured. Fortunately my friend, who was driving, just had bruised ribs. There were other people injured, but again it was very fortunate that nobody was killed. I have to admit I certainly did a bit of praying,” Mr Daly said.

He described the care he got in the Spanish hospital as absolutely superb.

“The emergency services were quickly at the scene and I was operated on almost immediately. I know I am very lucky to be alive,” the councillor said.

Another friend contacted his wife, Virge, about the accident. Mr Daly said she “got quite a land” when she heard the news.

“My brother, Diarmuid, flew out here straight away and my wife and my sister, Paula, came out the following day,” Mr Daly said.

He added that his wife then flew back to Ireland to collect their three sons, Daniel, Denis and Conor, who are all under three, to bring them out to Spain to see him.

“I’m hoping the medical experts will allow me back to Ireland before the end of next week, but I’ll have to wait and see what they say. Anyway I’m making fierce progress and they are pleasantly surprised. I hope to hit the ground running when I return home and get straight back into my council work,” Mr Daly said.