'We were shaking like leaves': Paddleboarder Ellen Glynn recalls 15-hour ordeal before Galway rescue

Ellen Glynn landing safely at Galway Hospital after she was rescued from the sea. Picture: Hany Marzouk

A teenager who survived 15 hours at sea, has said that while she was a “bit shook up” she was feeling good after the ordeal. 

“It’s all overwhelming,” Ellen Glynn said.

The 17-year-old told RTÉ radio’s Today with Sarah McInerney show that she did not think she would be allowed go paddle boarding again.

“I’m so scared of giving them (paddle boards) a bad name, it wasn’t their fault,” she said.

Ellen also told that this had been the first time she had not brought her mobile phone in a water proof bag.

The experienced paddleboarder and her cousin Sara Feeney, 23, were rescued at lunch time on Thursday after drifting from Furbo in Galway, where they entered the sea on Wednesday evening, to a location south of Inis Oirr, the smallest of the Aran Islands.

The two young women said that they were only a few minutes in the water when they realised that they had drifted far from shore.

The wind was rising and they were finding it difficult to get back to shore. Despite shouting to attract attention on the beach (where Sara’s mother was waiting for them), they could not be heard over the wind.

They immediately tied the two boards together and thought that the alarm would be raised quickly and they would be found that night.

“We were sitting there on the boards waiting for a boat to come.” By then it was “pitch black”, when they saw a boat in the distance they began screaming, but they could not be heard over the wind.

They also saw the rescue helicopter sweep overhead and thought it would see them because of the high viz strips on their life jackets.

John and Deirdre Glynn delighted with the news of their daughter Ellen age 17 after spending the night in rough sea.

“Some of the boats came really close, but they couldn’t hear us.” Ellen acknowledged that they did feel “a little panicky”, but they thought they had to be calm.

Initially, the water had been warm, but when the sun went down it was very cold with heavy rain, thunder and lightning. “We were absolutely frozen. We were worried about how cold it was. We were shaking like leaves.” At all times they thought they would be found, she said.

Despite their predicament they managed to fall asleep on their boards “for a few seconds at a time” and when they awoke the waves “were huge, they were splashing on us.”

When the sun came out it got a bit brighter, but they could not see far because it was foggy, Ellen added.

“We could make out the Cliffs of Moher and Inis Oirr.” They realised that the waves could push them out into the Atlantic so they tried to paddle towards the island, but the waves were too high.

They were all the time looking for something to which they could tie themselves and then they say the buoy on a lobster pot.

“We tied our boards to it and then took turns to sleep on our boards. In hindsight it is weird that we just stayed so calm. We just thought ‘we can’t drift out there’ and didn’t expand on that.” Ellen used the strap from her paddle board to clip their boards onto the lobster pot buoy.

They also attached the rope leads on each board (which are there so that paddle boarders do not get separated from their boards) to the other’s board. “When we weren’t paddling, we were holding on to each other’s board.” She admitted that their perception of time had become confused and they thought it was 5pm.

“We began to think that no one was looking for us, then we saw a boat and started paddling like crazy. We thought they were out fishing, but they said ‘you have no idea how many people are out looking for you.’ “We are so, so grateful.

The Glynn and the Feeney families delighted to see their daughters Ellen 17 and Sara 23 landing safely at the helipad at the Galway Hospital after a long malty operation. Picture: Hany Marzouk

"I have no idea what would have happened to us if they didn’t find us.”

Ellen said that she felt completely fine on the board, but that when she stood up to try to get into the boat she fell over and knocked Sara off her board.

“We were very shaky. They (the Olivers) wrapped us up and gave us drinks.”

While she remains in hospital, Ellen said she feels fine, but there was an issue with her muscle enzymes and she hopes to be released from hospital today or tomorrow morning at the latest.

She said that flotation devices had saved their lives.

“We would have been panicking if we didn’t have them.”