Coastal town mourns young victim of the sea
The people of Youghal in East Cork said Thursday night’s accident which claimed the life of 10-year-old Kyle Roche has cast a long, dark shadow over the town.
One local man, who was strolling on the town’s pier — where medics fought desperately to resuscitate the young boy — said people watched in shock as the rescue unfolded. “But when they realised it was a child, they began to weep. It was dreadful,” he said.
The town’s Queen of the Sea Festival opened last night with a minute’s silence for Kyle. A wreath was placed in the water as a mark of respect.
Town councillor Mary Linehan Foley said the tragedy had cast the darkest cloud over the town in years. “The Queen of the Sea festival is on in the town this weekend but there will be no celebrations or happy times. People just don’t have the appetite for it,” she said.
Local man Eugene Sheils, who was among several onlookers who made heroic efforts to try and save Kyle, who was from the area, after he got into difficulty in the sea off the town’s Front Strand, said: “We’ve been waiting for a good summer for years, and then this happens. It’s an appalling tragedy.”
Kyle was swimming with his 9-year-old brother Dean in a rock-enclosed enclave between Moll Goggin’s Corner and the promenade when he got into difficulty. The boys’ mother Viviene was with them at the time.
It is believed that Kyle may have slipped on the rocks and struck his head. Witnesses say he was swept past the rocks towards the mouth of Youghal Bay.
“If the poor lad had slipped and hit his head on the rocks, then he didn’t have a chance,” Mr Sheils said, as he returned to the Diving Rocks area yesterday morning, close to where he helped recover Kyle’s body from the water.
He said he was walking on the town’s promenade when he realised something was wrong.
“I ran up the road and I climbed down the rocks and I dived in,” he said.
“There was no splashes or hands waving. What I did see from the top of the road was what looked like a body under the water.
“I was screaming at people above to give me direction after I dived in. There was a good few of us in there.
“I know this area very well. It is normally a very safe place to swim but when the tide is filling or emptying it fills very fast and the currents can be treacherous.”
Mr Sheils, who spent his childhood swimming around the Diving Rocks area, said the more time that passed, the more panic began to set in.
“There was a lot of fear. Your head goes to a funny place,” he said.
He said he thought he saw the little boy’s body three times just below the surface, but that each time he dived, the boy was swept away by the swirling current.
Several local boats arrived on the scene, including Mr Sheils’s friend, Tommy Kennedy, who had been fishing for mackerel.
Mr Kennedy spotted Kyle just under the surface and grabbed him by the arm.
The men managed to hold the boy as the Youghal inshore lifeboat arrived on the scene. The RNLI crew rushed him to the town’s pier where paramedics and a doctor were waiting.
Kyle was then airlifted by the Waterford-based coast guard helicopter to Cork Airport for road transfer by ambulance to Cork University Hospital (CUH).
Despite receiving almost 57 minutes of emergency medical attention between the time he was recovered to the pier and his arrival at CUH, Kyle lost his fight for life and was pronounced dead at CUH.
Fr Patrick Winkle led prayers at 10am Mass in the town yesterday for Kyle and his family.
“We are keeping the family in our prayers that in this time of darkness and sadness, that they will be touched by the light of faith of Christ to give them hope,” he said.
Kyle had just finished third class at Bunscoil Mhuire pupil.
Ned Brennan, chairman of the school’s board of management, described him as “a lovely young lad and well-behaved”.
“His junior infants teacher, Marion Leamy, was telling me earlier that Kyle was a pleasure to teach. The whole school community is absolutely devastated.”
Members of the teaching staff visited Kyle’s distraught parents, Viviene and Eugene, at their home in the Glean Tuaraig estate off Cork Hill located above the town to express their sympathies.
Neighbours asked reporters to leave the area out of respect for the family.
The school choir has offered to participate in Kyle’s funeral Mass of the Angels and his classmates are expected to form a guard of honour.
Kyle’s removal will take place at 5pm today from Egan’s Funeral Home, Greencloyne, Youghal, to the local Holy Family Church. He will be buried in North Abbey Cemetery following 11am requiem Mass tomorrow.
* Youghal man Eugene Sheils talks about the impact the accident has had on the town, and the need for better warnings at dangerous bathing spots.
- Never swim after consuming alcohol or food.
- Be particularly careful of young children wandering off.
- Always swim in areas patrolled by lifeguards.
- Swim in the zoned sea area.
- Swim with family or friends — never alone.
- Swim within your depth and parallel to the sea.
