The man at the centre of Sunday’s dramatic sea cave rescue in west Donegal has described the moment his ‘quiet kayak’ turned into a living nightmare.
Malachy Doyle (69), a writer of children’s books who lives on Cruit, managed to contact emergency services just before 3pm to report he was in difficulty close to Owey Island. A short time later, his phone went dead.
Immediately, Malin Head Coast Guard tasked the Sligo-based R118 Coast Guard helicopter, Arranmore RNLI, Bunbeg Coast Guard rescue boat and the Bunbeg shoreline team. A number of other local vessels also assisted with the search.
They finally located the missing man, however, he was trapped inside a deep, narrow cave in choppy waters at the bottom of the steep Owey cliffs.
Speaking last night, a safe and healthy Mr Doyle paid a heartfelt tribute to the efforts of the RNLI, Coast Guard and the four local men who were able to pinpoint his location.
“Feeling immensely grateful to everyone who helped me in my hour of need on Sunday, when a wee trip over to Owey Island in the kayak, on quiet waters, turned into a living nightmare,” he said.
He described how he went to take a look into one of the caves but changed his mind when he saw the churning sea inside.
“Turning round, an enormous and freak wave hit me from behind, overturning the boat, sending me flying out, and both of us hurtling deep into the cave,” he recalled.
The dramatic moment rescuers entered the narrow cave to retrieve the trapped kayaker. Pic and video: Brian McGowan/Brimac Security.
“I somehow held onto the kayak (and paddle), but it (kayak) was half full of water and I couldn’t get back in. I spent about 30 minutes being buffeted around the cave, trying to hold on, and not swallow too much water. Eventually, and incredibly luckily, we were thrown towards the only possible escape route – a high ledge above the surging waters. I grabbed the rock with both hands, abandoning the kayak to the waves, and climbed up to a ledge, eight feet or so above the water level.”
Amazingly his phone, in a Ziploc bag around his neck, was still ‘just about’ working.
“I pressed 999 repeatedly. For ages it wouldn’t connect due to there being no signal deep in the cave, but eventually a woman answered. ‘I’m in trouble’, I said, and gave her my details. And then the phone charge ran out.”
For over an hour he waited, shivering in his wet clothes, hoping beyond hope that the telephone message had got through to the right people.
“No one knew I was out, no one would venture that way as the sea was much rougher by now, and there was severe danger of hypothermia setting in,” he continued.
“And then I heard the chopper. Rescue was on the way. I knew they couldn’t spot me from above, but Coastguard/RNLI would be out looking.”
It took another hour or more until local man, Oscar Duffy, and his friends came back to the mouth of the cave one last time to see if there was any sign of him.
“I heard their loudhailer and yelled back. They alerted the RNLI, who put in a drone to locate my position in the cave. The sea was too high, and way too rough by then, for a normal rescue boat to get in to me. But about an hour later the tide had turned and it had calmed enough for them to send in Arranmore’s smaller Y-boat inflatable, manned by the heroic JJ and Evan O’Donnell.”
The Rescue 118 helicopter flew Mr Doyle to Letterkenny hospital, in a journey that he said took just seven minutes.
“After a night in for warming up and monitoring, I was home, spectacularly safe and well, considering. Thank god for the emergency services, for Malin Head Coast Guard; Rescue 118 from Sligo; Bunbeg and Mulroy Coast Guard; Arranmore RNLI (especially JJ and Evan) ; the Fire Service, the Guards, the Ambulance Service and Letterkenny Hospital, who all played their part in saving my life. To Oscar Duffy, David Keller, Tom Ham and Manus O’Boyle, local men who played a very major part in my rescue, and all the other locals and friends who helped either on the day or to wish me well after. And a final and massive shout-out to the inventor of Ziploc waterproof bags – if you hadn’t kept my phone dry I’d probably still be there, on that tiny ledge, frozen solid. Lessons learnt. One of my nine lives is definitely gone.”
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