Heroic Irish fishermen rescued a pair of paddleboarders who had gone missing for 15 hours. On Thursday, Patrick Oliver, and his son, Morgan, 18, found cousins clinging on to a lobster pot near one of the Aran Islands. A news release by the Galway RNLI Lifeboat Station reported that people last saw the two women paddleboarding about 20 miles from where they were found.
The wind blew the two women out to the sea
The local media outlets identified the two women as 23-year-old Sara Feeney and 17-year-old Ellen Glynn. On Wednesday at nine in the evening, the duo was paddleboarding near Furbo Beach, when suddenly, a north wind blew them out to the sea.
Thankfully, the two did not need any medical attention even after spending the night out on the water under extreme conditions.
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Many helped out in search of the two
A relative quickly alerted the authorities after losing sight of the two from the shore. The Irish Coast Guard and local lifeboat services did an overnight search and rescue operation to find the adult woman and her teenage cousin.
On Thursday morning, a shore crew volunteer member with the Galway RNLI, Oliver, and his son joined the search. Two helicopters from Coast Guard Rescue from Sligo and Waterford also joined the search the next morning. Coast Guard lifeboats from Oranmore/Maree, Cashla Bay, and Doolin also joined the group search.
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Along the north shore and co-ordinated by the Gardai, the Civil Defence searched too. Galway Flying Club and Aer Arann also deployed volunteers in search of the two missing women.
'God bless everybody that helped' - Overwhelming joy for grandmother following granddaughters' rescue | https://t.co/BUkZnNbCNu pic.twitter.com/iRHOVNsHed — RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 13, 2020
The father calculated the wind speed and direction
The father and son set out on their fishing vessel called "Johnny O." The father told RTE, the national broadcaster, that after calculating the wind speed and direction, he had worked out a rough idea of where the two paddleboarders could have drifted to.
He said that since it is not worth giving up so he would have gone 30 miles further from where he found the two cousins. The two women were in shock because the fishermen found them. Oliver said that they were lucky because the weather is warm during that time.
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Oliver explained that after they got them in the boat, they brought the two into the island and the chopper landed there. He also said that the cousins were "fairly shook" but they were utterly thankful.
Thankful for all the help
The two cousin's grandmother, Mary Feeney, said that Flynn and Feeney were able to stay afloat by making good use of their paddleboards. The two attached them to a marker buoy on the lobster pot.
Mary told RTE that she could not put into words how good and kind everybody who joined the search was. She is praying that God would bless not only the two fishermen that saved her grandchildren but also to everybody that helped.
Helen Feeney, Feeney's mom, also said her praises for Oliver and his son for saving the two women. She said that they are forever indebted to them.
