Castletownbere RNLI went to the assistance of a seriously ill skipper on Tuesday night, while the Rescue 115 helicopter carried out a medi-vac from Cape Clear on Thursday afternoon.
Valentia Coast Guard radio alerted the RNLI, under coxswain Dave Fenton, at 11pm and within the hour the crew had located the 30m Spanish-registered fishing trawler 19 miles south-west of Ardnakinna lighthouse.
The crew, including Marney O’Donogue, John Paul Downey, Kyle Cronin and Donagh Murphy, described the sea conditions as ‘challenging’ with three to four metre swells and Force 6 winds.
The lifeboat escorted the trawler to just inside the mouth of Castletownbere harbour and the skipper – a man in his late 50s – was transferred a waiting ambulance at 2.10am and taken to hospital for medical assessment and treatment.
Meanwhile, the Rescue 115 helicopter carried out a medi-vac from Cape Clear at 3pm on Thursday afternoon. The assistance of Baltimore RNLI was not required on this occasion and the casualty was brought to Cork Airport and then transported to CUH for treatment.
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