The word “hero” is thrown around far too easily these days, but one man who deserves the title more than anyone today is Donegal man Davitt Walsh.
In a truly tragic set of circumstances, all 5 members of the same extended family died last night in the Buncrana pier tragedy.
Francis Crawford was the first man on the scene and called the emergency services as he shouted back and forth with the driver of the car, reassuring him the coast guard was on the way.
Another man and his girlfriend came along, Davitt Walsh and Stephanie Knox.
Walsh quickly stripped down to his underwear and made a life saving effort of swimming out in the freezing cold water to the stricken car.
There he met the family where the father of a two month little baby girl, broke the drivers window and simply said “save my baby”.
With that, Davitt managed to grab the baby, keep her aloft and swim back to shore. He was thoroughly exhausted and his girlfriend Stephanie cradled the baby and kept her warm.
Davitt suffered cuts in his left foot from glass on the pier. The hero managed to save the baby girl under unbelievably difficult circumstances.
The Buncrana nightmare is said to be among the worst coastal tragedies in the history of the State.