Main pic: Garda Roisín O’Donnell (L) and Garda Rose McGlynn.
Two Donegal Gardaí have been praised for their heroics in saving the life of a teenager in Co. Louth last month.
Garda Roisín O’Donnell and Garda Rose McGlynn, both originally from Letterkenny, were out on routine patrol on the M1 at Charleville outside Dunleer on May 26th when they were waved down by a couple standing by their parked vehicle on the hard shoulder.
The couple’s son, Tabish (19), had sustained an injury to his arm while at home and his parents were driving him to hospital when they got a flat tyre.
Both Gardaí quickly realised that Tabish’s injury was extremely serious as his bone was protruding and he was experiencing significant blood loss.
Garda O’Donnell and Garda McGlynn, who are both stationed in Ardee, took Tabish’s mother’s jacket and his dad’s trouser belt and together they made a tourniquet to stem the bleeding.
However, Tabish’s condition was quickly deteriorating and an ambulance was still some distance away.
Garda Roisín O’Donnell (L) and Garda Rose McGlynn.
Garda McGlynn carefully moved him to the garda vehicle to urgently get him to hospital while Garda O’Donnell performed traffic management duties on the road.
Garda McGlynn then drove towards Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda with activated lights and sirens but despite Garda O’Donnell’s best efforts to keep him alert, Tabish was falling in and out of consciousness and his arm was now turning pale.
He required emergency care so the Gardaí got in touch with the hospital’s emergency department to give them advance warning of Tabish’s condition and he was immediately seen by medics on arrival.
His medical team noted that had Garda O’Donnell and Garda McGlynn not administered life-saving treatment and applied a tourniquet when they had, Tabish would not have survived.
Having undergone complex surgery on his arm at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown the following day, Tabish’s life is no longer in danger and Gardaí say they are grateful to learn that he is now in recovery.
Amazingly, Garda O’Donnell and her colleague Garda Keenan McGavisk previously received a bronze medal and a certificate of bravery at the National Bravery Awards (below) for rescuing a young man from the River Dee in Co. Louth in 2020.
Garda Róisín O’Donnell who received a Bronze Medal in 2021 for her actions in the rescue of a man from the River Dee, Ardee, Co.Louth, along with her colleague, Garda Keenan McGavisk.
Pic: Maxwells.