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A father of three who rescued a woman from the Boyne River in Drogheda said that if there had not been a lifeguard at the water’s edge, “most likely she would have died.”
Aidan Townley, whose family is a funeral home in the city, was walking home after a meal with his wife and three children to mark his youngest son’s first birthday when the events unfolded.
The family was at the Bridge of Peace over the Boyne when a man ran up to him and said there was someone in the water.
“I looked out into the water and got the scare of my life,” he said.
There was a woman “splashing around and yelling ‘help, help, help.’
He yelled at his wife Sheryl to call 999 and “jumped over the railing to the grassy edge and down into the river.”
“Thank goodness there was a ring buoy, I grabbed the box, opened it and took it out of the box.
“I ran to the riverbank and let him scream. I shot the ring buoy at him and told him to grab it and hold onto it and he did, thank goodness.”
He was able to start pulling the rope to bring it up from the river, which is known for its life-threatening currents.
Townley, who revealed she was trained as a lifeguard when she was young, said: “Another guy came on the scene and helped me pull her. She was terribly cold.”
The woman was able to grab onto the side of a large gabion on the river side and then the gardaí arrived and an ambulance was called to take her to the Hospital Nuestra Señora de Lourdes.
The rescue occurred around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night.
Mr. Townley was watched by Sheryl and her three children, Erin, 8, Rosa, 3, and Rían, 1, and when he met them on the bridge, his daughters ran up to him yelling ‘Daddy is a hero’.
Speaking today, he emphasized the importance of having life rings accessible and maintained.
He said, “If he hadn’t been there, he most likely would have died. He was trying to swim against the current.”
“I trained as a lifeguard and it occurred to me that the last thing you do is get into the water; ‘reach, throw, wade or row.’
He said he’s “very shocked after that, it’s a very surreal feeling” but is very happy that “everyone was safe in the end.”
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