The Clifden RNLI lifeboat was called out to a late night medical evacuation of a sick child from the islands this week.
At approximately 9pm on Wednesday night, the lifeboat was called out by Malin Coast Guard to a medical evacuation from Inishturk off the Mayo coast.
They were asked to immediately make their way to Inishturk North, as a sick child needed to be evacuated.
Clifden’s Shannon class all weather lifeboat, St Christopher was launched under Coxswain James Mullen, with Joe Acton, Dan Whelan, Kenneth Flaherty and Shane Conneely as crew, John B Mannion assisted the launch from the shore.
The Irish Coast Guard’s Sligo based helicopter Rescue 118 was also dispatched.
The lifeboat crew made it to the island in 40 minutes, just as Rescue 118 arrived on the scene.
They crew stood by as the young casualty was air-lifted to Mayo University Hospital. They then returned to base, a full five hours after leaving.
Speaking about the shout Coxswain James Mullen said, “We are sending our best wishes to the young casualty and sincerely hope they have a speedy recovery.”
“I would like to thank our volunteer crew for continuing to go the extra mile and putting their own lives on hold every time the pager goes.”
“This has been a really busy period for Clifden RNLI between exercises, assessments and call-outs and I appreciate the commitment of every one of our volunteers.”
