A man was airlifted to hospital on Sunday after spending almost an hour in the water when he fell overboard from a boat in Co Clare.
It was one of four emergencies the Irish Coast Guard dealt with in Clare and south Galway in just a few hours on Sunday. At about 4pm, emergency services were alerted to an incident in Kilkee, Co Clare where a man was reported to have fallen overboard from a boat and suffered a back injury. It's understood he was in the water for over an hour before he could be safely recovered and brought ashore.
The man was transported to the slipway at Kilkee where he was taken by ambulance to meet the helicopter and flown to University Hospital Galway.
In the first callout of the afternoon, the Doolin unit was alerted at about 2.30pm following a report that a woman had been injured in a fall at the Burren.
The walker sustained a leg injury along the Lough Avilla Loop trail close to Mullaghmore in the Burren National Park.
At around the same time, Doolin Coast Guard was alerted to a kayaker in difficulty at Crab Island off Doolin.
It’s understood the man’s kayak was struck by a rogue wave and his paddle was washed away.
In their fourth callout of the afternoon, the Doolin Coast Guard team was mobilised to Trácht near Kinvara in south Galway where a wind surfer was reported to be in difficulty. On arrival, they found that the wind surfer had been safely taken ashore by a group of locals.