Father said "Save my baby" - pier tragedy hero recalls
The Donegal man who rescued the baby in the Buncrana Pier tragedy is being hailed as a hero.
Davitt Walsh (29), who hails from Kerrykeel in Co. Donegal, was in Buncrana last night when an Audi Q7 SUV slid into the water from the slipway at the pier.
He stripped off down to his boxer shorts and jumped into the water and swam out towards the vehicle with its six occupants.
He saved the baby, but tragically the five other occupants subsequently drowned.
Speaking to RTE today, he recalled how he had managed to get the baby ashore.
He recalled how he could see the distress of the family in the car. Water was starting to seep in, but the father managed to hand the baby out.
Mr. Walsh said that the father of the infant had looked at him and said: "save my baby."
Holding the baby up, Mr Walsh swam back to the shore.
He described the incident as being "terrible" and could do no more to save the others. He saw the car "going down instantly."
When he got back to the shore he was exhausted. His girlfriend Stephanie Knox put blankets around the baby.
The baby, four month-old Rioghnach James, was swiftly taken to Letterkenny University Hospital.
The interview on RTE television with Mr. Walsh and his girlfriend can be seen by clicking here
Clearly shaken by the ordeal, he was using a crutch when he left the hospital.
Ms. Knox praised the rescue services and all involved in the efforts made trying to resuscitate the other people when they were subsequently brought ashore.
Frank McGrotty, the brother of Sean McGrotty, the driver of the car and the father of the rescued baby, paid tribute to Mr. Walsh.
He said that the family owed "a massive debt of gratitude" to Davitt Walsh for the bravery he had showed.
Several people at the scene suggested that if Mr. Walsh had jumped in with clothes on, he could have been in bother himself.
Five people - all from Derry – drowned in the tragedy.
They were the car’s driver Sean McGrotty, his two young sons Evan James (8) and Mark (12), plus Ruth Daniels and her teenage daughter Jodie Lee Daniels (15).
Mr. Walsh is particularly well known in soccer circles having played with several clubs including Finn Harps, Derry City, Shelbourne, Bohemians, Lisburn, Ballymena United, Institute and Fanad United.