Achill lifeboat launched for medical evacuation from Inishbofin

ACHILL Island RNLI evacuated a male patient from Inishbofin late last night and in to this morning (Tuesday).

The patient was brought to Cleggan Pier in Galway for further transport to University College Hospital Galway.

The volunteer lifeboat crew of six, with Dave Curtis as Coxswain, on the Sam and Ada Moody, left Achill Island at 9.50 p.m. last night (Monday) to travel 20 nautical miles to reach their casualty on Inishbofin.

It was a cold, dark night, with westerly winds and showers and a light snow flurry greeted the crew when they arrived at Inishbofin, a journey which took the Trent class lifeboat just under an hour to complete on this particular leg.

The patient was taken onboard the lifeboat which then travelled to Cleggan where the pier was lit up by members of the Cleggan Coast Guard unit who assisted with transferring the patient to the awaiting HSE ambulance and on to University College Hospital in Galway for further treatment.

The Sam and Ada Moody returned to Achill Island at 1.26 a.m.

Speaking after the call-out, Ciaran Needham, Achill Island RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, said: “As always, it is great to see inter-agency cooperation working so well in the early hours of the morning.

“Our volunteers train for all types of sea and weather conditions and are ready to respond whenever their pagers go off, day or night. We were delighted to be able to assist this patient and we wish him a speedy recovery.”