Mayo people honoured at National Bravery Awards
SIXTEEN National Bravery Awards have been presented to individuals from Donegal, Mayo and Monaghan who risked their own lives to aid others in peril.
Three of the rescues occurred in Mayo and events involved a house fire, the rescue of a boy from the sea, and an accident in which a digger overturned.
A ceremony at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park today brought recipients together to receive 10 Bronze Medals, another five received Silver Medals, with one Gold Medal for Bravery also presented by the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl.
The annual honours are awarded by Comhairle na Míre Gaile - the Deeds of Bravery Council, which was founded 75 years ago in 1947 to enable State recognition of exceptional acts of bravery.
On August 7, 2020, Michael Nallon was working with a colleague in Ballinafad, Belcarra, who was driving an excavator and became medically unwell and slumped over the controls. The machine spun a couple of times and then entered a river, which was high and fast flowing as a result of heavy rain over the previous days.
Mr. Nallon entered the water and climbed into the cab to rescue his colleague. He remained on the machine for almost an hour, holding his colleague’s head above water until help from the emergency services arrived.
His colleague was taken from the machine and stabilised before being removed by helicopter to hospital.
For his efforts, Michael was awarded a Bronze Medal.
A Silver Medal was presented to Michael Downes for the part he played in the rescue of a boy at Old Head near Louisburgh.
In July 1974 the boy fell out of his canoe in the sea, losing his paddle and grabbing on to the side of the canoe, panicking and shouting for help.
Michael, noticing that the tide was on the turn, and without a moment’s thought for his own safety, dived off the pier and swam to the exhausted boy (approximately 120 yards).
With the tide rapidly turning, Michael, knowing how tired the boy was, secured him over the bow of the canoe and attempted to swim back to the pier pulling the canoe. He had to navigate across a rocky patch where he received significant cuts, resulting in loss of blood and hypothermia.
Despite this he managed to get the boy back to the safety of the pier where they were looked after, although Michael still carries the scars to this day.
Also receiving a Silver Medal for rescuing a man from a burning house was Rosaleen Feeney.
At 6.20 a.m. on May 31, 2021, a fire broke out at a house near Ballinrobe. The elderly occupant activated his emergency pendant and Rosaleen, who was his emergency contact, responded.
En route she saw flames and rang the gardaí and fire service. On arriving Rosaleen saw the fire closing in around the elderly man who was shouting at her through the window. He could feel the heat of the fire.
Rosaleen smashed a window and pulled him through it, burning her hand in the process.
The man’s clothes had started to burn and he was treated by ambulance crew and then moved to Mayo University Hospital.
Said the Ceann Comhairle: “Through the 75 years of the bravery awards we have heard of hundreds of lives that have been saved. We cannot know what lives were lived or what generations have grown as a result of these deeds, but we do know that every deed made a difference. Every act of bravery matters to the people who were saved and sometimes, even more so, to those who are left behind after an unsuccessful rescue attempt.”