The grieving mother of Luke Hyde, who drowned on Wednesday while swimming in the River Lee, has shared her sorrow and anger after onlookers chose to live-stream the incident instead of helping, reports The Mirror.
Luke, who would have celebrated his 34th birthday on June 2, entered the north channel of the River Lee at Pope’s Quay in Cork around 6.45pm with a friend to swim to Kyrl’s Quay.
While the first swimmer made it across safely, Mr Hyde encountered difficulty as he approached the quay wall and slipped beneath the surface of the water, which was nearing high tide at 8.20pm, reports The Mirror.
A rescue mission coordinated by the Irish Coast Guard Marine Rescue Centre in Valentia Island involved deploying the Rescue 117 Sikorski helicopter from Waterford.
Crowds began to gather, prompting Gardaí to extend the cordon around emergency crews as many bystanders filmed and even live-streamed the incident, instead of helping as Mr Hyde struggled in the water, reports The Mirror.
Luke’s devastated mother, Elizabeth, has harshly criticised those who recorded the tragedy instead of attempting to save her son by throwing a lifebuoy.
“My reaction would be to try and save him, throw a lifebuoy instead of filming. The whole family is upset over it. Who are these people?,” an emotional Elizabeth told the Neil Prendeville Show on Cork’s RedFM, reports The Mirror.
“I don’t know if I can come to terms with this, that my son was drowning and people were filming. I want to let those people know who are so fond of their phones that I hope they are listening to this broken-hearted family,” continued Elizabeth, rtmm
This is the second tragedy Elizabeth has faced in recent years, following the sudden passing of Luke’s older brother Brian in his sleep five years ago.
Elizabeth said she has not slept since the night she found out about Luke’s death.
“I haven’t slept since Wednesday. My whole body is trembling. Beautiful, mannered young fella that God put on this earth,” Elizabeth said, reports The Mirror.
She was at home watching TV when she heard the sound of the Coast Guard helicopter overhead. So I knew something was wrong and I said to myself ‘God help us, I hope they find the person’. Little did I know it was my son they were looking for. I rang his phone and it rang out. He’d always answer, he’d report everything back to me. I thought he was at work. I didn’t know he had the day off, reports The Mirror.
A stranger answered the phone and asked who she was. After she said she was looking for Luke, the voice identified himself as a Garda.
“That was it. I ran out on the street with no shoes and I ran to the river. They were putting Luke into the ambulance. There were crowds of people there at the quay. I don’t know how I am coping,” she said, reports The Mirror.
Elizabeth recalled shouting: “I need to hold my son, I need to see him. Did he call my name? Did he call my name? He was turning his life around and he started a job last week in Tesco Express on the Douglas Road. He told me he is sorting his life out, he has a job, he said he is going to make it. Everyone loved him, he was a polite mannerly boy, the gentlest person going,” said Elizabeth, reports The Mirror.
A senior fire officer has also made a plea for people not to share distressing footage of the event as it unfolded.
“This man was clearly in difficulty in the water but we saw no signs of lifebuoys in the water when we arrived at the scene minutes after the alarm was raised,” said second officer Victor Shine with Cork City Fire Brigade, reports The Mirror.
Some of the incident was live-streamed, and Mr Shine addressed the issue on Thursday, noting that footage also captured the recovery of Luke’s body.
Mr Shine, a firefighter for 44 years, said: “People today tend to video rather than render aid. But this was another level.
“I would have expected to see lifebuoys in the water and there are some in the area, but I didn’t see any in the water and I’m not sure if anyone attempted to throw a lifebuoy. I would appeal to people not to share these clips and to consider the impact it might have on the man’s family or friends if they saw it,” reports The Mirror.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin condemned the filming of the tragedy, calling it “very traumatic” for Mr Hyde’s loved ones.
“It’s a very sad and regrettable feature of modern life,” said An Taoiseach. We have mobile phones and devices. It was horrendous what happened. What I understand is that two people went for a swim and got into difficulties. One was able to get out and raise the alarm. I read what the fire officer said that they found it difficult to comprehend. That there were no life buoys thrown in to help but that people were taking photographs and videoing. And for family members that’s very sad, it’s very traumatic, it’s very very sad. To be fair, I am very well aware of other incidents where people are brave and do the right thing. Every year we award bravery, we reward good actions by citizens. And that happens too and that needs to be said. Notwithstanding the modern era we live in, I think decorum and dignity are essential values we should retain particularly when people are in distressful circumstances and in that situation where a person is actually drowning,” reports The Mirror.
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