Surfer awarded Certificate of Bravery for rescue at Tullan Strand

Surfer Donnchadh Kennedy was awarded a Bronze Medal and a Certificate of Bravery for the rescue of two swimmers from the sea at Tullan Strand.

The National Safety Awards ceremony at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, brought recipients to reward those who risked their own lives to aid others in peril.

On the evening of Saturday, August 13, 2022, Donnchadh was surfing at Tullan Strand when he was alerted by people on the beach and nearby cliffs that there was a swimmer in difficulty in the sea about 80 metres from his position in the water.

He immediately paddled through three to four-foot waves and into the rip current to the location of the swimmer. As he approached her she went under the waves and he grabbed her and attempted to get her onto his surfboard.

She finally managed to cling to the board and with great difficulty he eventually paddled out of the rip current and another surfer came to help. They were bringing her towards the beach when Donnchadh was alerted to another man in difficulty in the water.

He turned and paddled back out into the current again and managed to help the man to grab hold of his surfboard. Although exhausted from the effort he paddled back out of the rip current and with the aid of another surfer the man was brought safely to shore.