'Like a circus': Cork mother heartbroken after son’s tragic death is filmed by onlookers
Luke Hyde drowned in the River Lee on Thursday. File picture
The devastated mother of a man who died in a drowning tragedy in Cork City has hit out at the people who filmed the incident.
Elizabeth Hyde's son Luke, who was 34, died on Wednesday after getting into difficulty in the Pope's Quay area of the River Lee.
Senior emergency service officials hit out earlier after it emerged that the drowning and the recovery of the man’s remains had been recorded by some onlookers.
Ms Hyde, 76, said she was "disgusted" as she questioned why someone would stand by and film Luke's tragic death rather than do something to save him.
"It was like a circus. Them watching my son drown instead of trying to help him."
She said: "I don't think I can get through this, this is my second son [to die] in five years." She lost another son, Brian, who died suddenly in his sleep, she said.
She said she does not know if people "realise the heartache that this has put me and my family through", adding: "I don't even know if I'll come through this".
Speaking about the people who recorded video of the tragedy, Ms Hyde said: "I don't even think there's a word that could describe those people."
Through cries of anguish, Ms Hyde said the scene will never leave her.
"It's completely unnatural what took place down there, I don't know how I'll ever, ever forget it. I haven't slept since the news".
Speaking about Luke, Ms Hyde said: "He was the most placid, beautiful-mannered young fella God ever put on this earth."
Luke had recently started a new job and he had told his mother: "I've sorted my life out now. I'm getting my life together."
Speaking to RedFM's Neil Prendeville Show, Ms Hyde said she rang her son's phone on the day of the tragedy and when a garda answered, she ran down Shandon Street to the scene of the incident.
"When I got down, they were putting him into the ambulance and I saw the crowds, I didn't know what was going on."
She said another son was also on the scene and he tried to shield her from the scene but was adamant she wanted to hold her son one last time saying: "I need to hold my boy, I need to see him."
Ms Hyde said: "I don't know what his last thought or words were. I was thinking, 'did he call my name?'"
She said she hoped those who filmed the tragedy were listening to a "broken-hearted mother".
