A LIFEBOAT VOLUNTEER who jumped into the sea to save a young girl has said that pockets of air trapped under her jacket helped keep her afloat before the rescue.

Andrew Sykes was on board the RNLI lifeboat that reached the girl and pulled her out of the water within eight-and-a-half minutes of receiving the emergency call on Saturday evening.

The operation was mounted after the girl was swept out to sea from the east pier of Dún Laoghaire Harbour in Co Dublin amid rough seas during Storm Kathleen. 

Dún Laoghaire Coast Guard, the RNLI and Rescue 116, An Garda Síochána, the National Ambulance Service and Dublin Fire Brigade all attended the scene of the incident which happened at around 8.20pm on Saturday.

After being pulled from the water, the girl was taken to hospital for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.

Sykes, a volunteer helm with the RNLI, said the stormy conditions made the rescue operation difficult.

“With the high winds and storm we were experiencing, with large waves and surge coming off the pier, to get alongside her was extremely difficult. She would be pushed one way and we would be pushed another,” he told the PA news agency.

📟 Callout - East Pier, Dun Laoghaire 6.4.24 📟

Child in water. @DLCoastGuard @RNLIDunLaoghair @AmbulanceNAS @GardaTraffic @DubFireBrigade and #rescue116 all tasked. Child recovered and taken to hospital. Respect the water, heed the warnings!!! https://t.co/oFj6LCDsg8

— Dun Laoghaire Coast Guard (@DLCoastGuard) April 6, 2024

After two attempts to reach the girl from within the boat, Sykes entered the water to grab hold of her and help her onboard.

He said she was calm and alert and was lying on her back in the water with her arms out wide.

Sykes said the air trapped in her coat was crucial.

“She had a jacket on and capsules of air had become trapped in it – those kept her afloat,” he said.

Ed Totterdell, lifeboat operations manager at Dún Laoghaire Lifeboat Station, praised the skills of the crew members involved in the rescue.

“It showed the talent of the crew on board that they were able to do it, they were ready for it,” he said.

Dún Laoghaire Fine Gael TD Jennifer Carroll MacNeill praised the “extraordinary efforts” of the rescuers.

Fianna Fáil TD Cormac Devlin described the rescuers as “heroic”.

“Thank you and I hope that the young girl is recovering well,” he posted on X.

Around 34,000 customers lost electricity supply on Saturday as Storm Kathleen swept across the island, with orange wind warnings in effect in southern and western parts.

A few thousand customers remained without power overnight but by Sunday afternoon almost all had had their supply restored.

A yellow wind warning covering Donegal, Mayo and west Galway was lifted at 4pm on Sunday.

With reporting from Press Association