A 40-year-old man who was left trapped in a Mayo cave is now recovering after what has been described as a ‘remarkable’ rescue mission.
Teams rushed to the aid of the man who was trapped for nearly 22 hours over the weekend after getting stuck on a ledge in a cave at Downpatrick Head.
According to reports he was swept into the area during high tide before the major recovery mission was launched.
READ MORE: 'Freak wave' traps man in cave off Irish coast with huge rescue operation underway
The alarm was raised just before 6pm on Saturday and after hours of effort, the man was rescued and brought to safety.
Carrying out the mission were RNLI rescue teams, gardaí, the Irish Coast Guard, the Civil Defence Forces and the local fire brigade, alongside the Irish Cave Rescue Team.
A woman was also trapped along with the man but she was rescued by kayakers before conditions halted efforts to save the stranded man.
However, he was eventually airlifted from the scene via the Sligo-based Rescue Coast Guard helicopter.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast on Monday, Agatha Hurst from the Ballyglass RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat said the operation was an incredible effort as she described the intricate nature of how they recovered the man.
Describing the scene, Ms. Hurst said: “He was on a ledge and he was about 14 metres back into the cave so it was very difficult for him to come out on his own.
“It was just a remarkable and a fantastic effort to get him out safely.”
She warned that: “Even though the sea might have looked calm enough when you are looking down on it, there was a bit of a swell, quite a bit of a swell, so it was creating a kind of a washing machine effect inside the cave.
“I suppose the only way to get to him, and they tried lots of different methods, the only way they could get down to him was with the Irish Cave Rescue Team.
“It took them a long time, they had to drill in specialised pieces of equipment all the way down along the face of the cliff so that they could securely get to him and rescue him.”
According to Ms. Hurst, contact was maintained with the man throughout the 24 hours, and he is now believed to be recovering well.
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