Cork family raise funds for rescue team that saved grandson from ravine on Kerry mountain
Mary Morrissey (centre) with her grandsons, Roan (left) and Fionn (right) who had a six-month long recovery after falling while hiking on a mountain in Kerry. Picture: Jim Coughlan
Fionn Otto’s nightmare might have ended very differently were it not for the team who rescued him as he lay trapped in a ravine for seven hours following a horrific fall.
Yet, rather than focus on the trauma of that night, the 19-year-old’s family are opting instead to relive its happy ending by paying tribute to the Dingle Coast and Cliff Rescue (DCCR) team who formed part of the mission to save Fionn in November of last year.
Less than a year on from the ordeal, the family, who hail from Glasheen in Cork, are all finding ways to demonstrate their gratitude to the team.
Fionn’s grandmother Mary Morrissey recently raised a total of €3800 for the DCCR with a book about her life titled .
In the meantime his brother Roan, who was with Fionn at the time of the accident, is preparing to participate in a full Ironman in Cozumel, Mexico, next month to mark his 18th birthday.
His hope is to generate a further €10,000 for the same cause. It follows a year of mixed emotions for the family, particularly Fionn who faced a six-month long recovery.
The Dingle Coast Guard and Rescue R115 were dispatched to the scene near Pedlar’s Lake on November 16, 2024, after being alerted to the dangerous situation in which Fionn found himself.
However, it had to abandon the mission for a period due to what was described at the time as a low cloud base. The helicopter returned later at 9.40pm.
Fionn was eventually rescued and transported to Kerry University Hospital at around 10.50pm. Dingle Coast and Cliff Rescue, who the family raised funds for, assisted with the operation which was one of the most complex missions the volunteers had ever seen.
The teenager had to undergo six-hour emergency surgery after being winched more than 200 metres to safety on a stretcher.
He recalls how he had been hiking with his brother Roan and their friend Oran Dennehy when he fell while on a path through An Chonair located on Corca Dhuibhne.
“We had just been surfing and were driving back. I can just remember spotting this mountain and saying "this looks climbable".
"We stopped the car and I got out. I went up the mountain but not the designated way. Looking back it was a stupid idea. I stepped on what I thought was grass but it had rock underneath.
"I slipped down this mountain, onto this rock ledge. There was a 30-metre drop so I was fairly lucky that I landed there. As soon as I landed I heard my bones break and I was screaming for like a minute.
"I realised, however, that nobody was nearby. I was just looking down at my break. When I lifted my leg up it just flopped down because the two bones were completely broken.
"I must have been lying there for an hour when my brother came and found me. He was trying to ring emergency services but dropped the phone so it cracked and broke.
"Oran had very little battery left but miraculously we managed to make the call to emergency services."
He said it was strange — and he is not sure if it was the shock of what he was going through — but it didn’t occur to him the danger that he was in.
"All I could think about was chicken wings. Understandably, that’s where my mind went because I was so hungry.
"The experience has definitely grounded me. I used to not think about these things as much. I’m still wild, but at the same time I’m more grounded. You won’t be finding me climbing up a mountain by myself again.”
Roan, who was just 16 when the accident happened, reflected on their experiences. “I could hear Fionn’s voice crack as he cried out in desperation so I knew he wasn’t messing," he said.
"I kept thinking that I would have to watch him fall to his death. It was quite tough. Even while waiting for him I was wondering if he was still sliding off the cliff. The uncertainty of it was torture."
He said when he realised his older brother was okay, it was a huge relief.
"I could never have imagined something like this ever happening to us but it did," he said. "I couldn’t believe that we were the ones this was happening to. The months after really matured me.
Their mum Jo recalled how Fionn had to undergo surgery to avoid losing his leg to compartment syndrome, a condition that results in the restriction of blood flow and tissue function.
“With the compartment syndrome, the muscles start expanding so when he got to the hospital they had to make these footlong incisions on either side of a shin to allow the muscles to be released,” Jo recalled.
Their grandmother — Jo’s mum — Mary Morrissey said she thanks her lucky stars that Fionn survived the ordeal.
“We are two of a kind, as they say in poker,” she said of herself and Fionn. “But that goes for me and all my grandchildren. I have eight grandchildren and they are all very special to me.”
Mary said she remains forever grateful to the team who helped Fionn on the night of his accident. She also believes that faith played a part in his triumph over adversity.
“I have very strong faith,” she told the . “It’s not just God who is looking out for us. The people who came before us are taking care of us too. Prayer is very important too.”
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