This article is from page 6 of the 2008-07-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
A 25 YEAR old man who fell from a cliff in Quilty after a night out man- aged to raise the alarm by using his mobile phone to call his mother.
The incident occurred at around 7.45am on Sunday. The young man, named locally as Pat Murrihy from Quilty, had been socialising in the area on Saturday night and was walk- ing home early on Sunday morning when he apparently stumbled and fell almost 10 metres from a sheer cliff onto rocks below. He was alone at the time of the incident.
As he lay injured and unable to
move, he raised the alarm by call- ing his mother on his mobile phone. She immediately contacted the emergency services before rushing to the scene along with neighbours and members of the local Red Cross vuebLe
The incident occurred between Quilty village and the local pier.
A rescue operation was launched within minutes involving the Doolin unit of the Irish Coastguard, gardai, the ambulance service and the Shan- non based coastguard helicopter. The operation was coordinated by Valen- tia coastguard radio.
Mr Murrihy was treated at the scene
by Red Cross personnel pending the arrival of the coastguard team.
Shortly before 9am the man was airlifted to University College Hos- pital in Galway where he is receiving treatment for back injuries which, al- though serious, are not believed to be life threatening.
Gardai at Ennistymon are inves- tigating the incident which is being treated as an accident.
A coastguard spokesperson said the man fell about 8 metres down a sheer cliff. The tide was out at the time but if it had been in, the casualty would have been very close to the water.
“We were able to reach him by
walking down a ramp but it was de- cided to airlift him to hospital rather that transport him by road. It was certainly a good thing he had his mobile phone with him.”
A spokesperson for UCHG con- firmed that the man 1s expected to be discharged from hospital on Monday night or Tuesday.
Last October, an 81 year old retired New York City fireman died after he fell from the same cliff just yards from the scene of Sunday’s accident. Pat Lusterring, who was originally from the area, was returning to his holiday home from visiting a friend when the tragedy occurred.