Hero fisherman rescue woman in Cork City after car enters water at Kennedy Quay

Hero fisherman rescue woman in Cork City after car enters water at Kennedy Quay

Two foreign fishermen have been hailed as heroes after they dived into the River Lee and saved a woman whose car had entered the water.

The two men were on board a trawler which was tied up at Cork’s Kennedy Quay when the drama unfolded just before lunchtime on Monday.

A car with one occupant approached the quayside at Kennedy Quay, before it suddenly cleared low safety kerbs which have been installed at points along the unprotected working quayside, and entered the water between two trawlers.

As the car began floating downriver, two crewmen on board one of the trawlers dived into the water immediately.

They swam to the car, and smashed its rear window before hauling the woman out alive.

Emergency services, including a swift water rescue team from Cork City Fire Brigade, National Ambulance Service paramedics, members of Crosshaven Coast Guard, and gardaí rushed to the scene, and helped to recover the woman to the quayside.

She has been taken to the Mercy University Hospital for treatment.

The two fisherman were then helped by crewmates to lash the car to the side of their trawler.

Divers from the Mallow Search and Rescue Unit are on route to help attach straps to the car, which is due to be lifted clear from the water later this afternoon.

The two crewmen who saved the woman were medically assessed at the scene and apart from mild hypothermia, they were deemed uninjured.

Victor Shine, a third officer with Cork City Fire Brigade, hailed their lifesaving intervention.

“They are exceptional individuals and this was a superb outcome,” he said.

It is understood that the men were due to fly home from Cork Airport this afternoon after spending a month working on board the trawler.

It is the second river rescue of a person from a car in the city in a week.

Members of the fire brigade rescued a man after his car entered shallow water off Blackrock Pier last week.

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