Man recovering in hospital after being trapped in Mayo sea cave for 22 hours

The man spent almost 22 hours on a ledge in a cave at Downpatrick Head, after being swept into the area during high tide last evening. Picture: Department of Transport

A heroic diver who helped rescue 13 boys from a flooded cave in Thailand four years ago was one of the team of specialist cave rescuers who saved a man trapped in a sea cave at Downpatrick, north Mayo, over the weekend.

Jim Warny, a Belgian national who is based in Ennis, Co Clare, was among dozens of voluntary cave rescuers from the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation, who rescued the Polish national, 40, from the back of a cave at Downpatrick Head.