Local surfers to be honoured for saving teenagers at Tullan Strand

Four Donegal surfers will be honoured at Irish Water Safety’s National Annual Awards Ceremony this Wednesday for their quick actions when a group of teenagers got into difficulty at Tullan Strand earlier this year.
Owen Murphy, Fergal Muller, Friederike Rost and Sean Young were giving surf lessons on Tullan Strand when a group of nine teenagers entered the water to cool down unaware of dangerous rip currents.
The alarm was raised by members of the public who contacted the coast guard after the group got into difficulty within minutes.
In the interim period, the four local surf instructors quickly intervened, paddling to the group, prompting each of the teenagers to grab onto surfboards one by one.
The surfers used their knowledge of the currents to assist the teenagers to paddle to a safer area where they could walk ashore.
Each instructor returned a number of times until all nine were brought to safety.
Minister for Rural & Community Development, Michael Ring will present the “Seiko Just in Time Rescue Award” to a total of 30 rescuers in appreciation for saving so many lives in the past year.
He says: “Complacency around aquatic environments is simply not an option”.