Goalie rescues woman from river

Goalkeeper for the Clare football team Garda Joe Hayes proved to be a life-saving last line of defence yesterday in a dramatic river rescue in Limerick.

Garda Hayes was going on duty at Henry Street Garda Station shortly before 6.30am when colleagues went to the assistance of a woman near Shannon Bridge.

“The woman was crying and she was holding onto one of the metal ladders going from the river wall down onto the river. A number of guards were talking to her to try and get her to come away from the water’s edge,” one witness said.

Garda Hayes, aged 30, stripped off and as he did so, the woman fell into the water.

“He dived in after her and got to her very quickly and managed to bring her to where members of the rescue service were. She was lifted out of the water and put in an ambulance,” the witness added.

The woman was treated at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.

Garda Hayes lines out against Limerick this weekend in the Munster senior football championship.

Garda Inspector John O’Reilly praised the quick action of Garda Hayes, which he said went beyond the call of duty.

This was the second river rescue by gardaí this week near Shannon Bridge. A number of gardaí rescued an Eastern European woman in her 20s at around 1.15am on Monday.

She was not hurt.