This is the moment a baby boy was rescued from his home at the height of the Storm Chandra flooding nightmare– and slept through the whole thing.
A dramatic photograph obtained by The Irish Mirror shows volunteers from Slaney Search and Rescue bringing three week old Ollie Micheal Kirwan, his parents and grandmother to safety on a boat in the middle of Enniscorthy, Co Wexford early on Tuesday.
“It’s any parent’s worst nightmare,” Ollie Micheal’s mother Kasey Grant told The Irish Mirror on Tuesday evening – as she, her partner Stephen Kirwan and their little baby recovered from their ordeal.
Kasey added: “All sorts of emotions went through me and I just wanted my son and my family safe.”
Kasey was speaking to us fewer than 12 hours after the couple, their little son and his grandmother Elayne Grant were brought to safety by fearless volunteers from Slaney Search and Rescue.
The rescue team got to the couple’s apartment and brought them to safety on a boat at around 9am on Tuesday – after the road they live on was flooded when the River Slaney burst its banks in the Wexford town in the early hours of the morning. Their apartment was on the first floor of a complex in the Quay area, but the waters had already submerged the first floor and there were real fears it would reach the electric box in their home.
The Slaney team deployed an empty boat so the traumatised family could all get in together – as well as bring equipment they needed for the infant.
Elayne told RTE Drive Time on Tuesday evening that she went to help her daughter Kasey when her new born son became upset in their apartment in Enniscorthy as the storm raged overnight.
Mrs Grant said: “We were all settled, and we got a phone call from the Guards at half past one to remove my car from outside the building.
“I parked it a good bit away, came back, and we settled down. And the baby woke at about half four, five o'clock for a bottle.
“I looked out the window and we were absolutely, completely trapped in, we didn't even know that it was going to happen.
“We were on the first level. The water was coming in at the ground floor door. We were at the first level, but it was coming up where all the electrics and everything were as you come in, the ground floor is the first apartment there.
“It was petrifying for his mam and dad. It really was. His dad was amazing. He stayed calm. But his mam was quite upset, because obviously, she's got a little boy, and she got really afraid with him. It was frightening.”
The family then got in contact with local independent councillor Jackser Owens via a friend – who contacted Slaney Search and Rescue.
Councillor Owens told The Irish Mirror: “The lady rang me in the apartment.
“They were very distressed at the time.
“It’s a lot of worry, the water coming in and you might not get out. But thanks be to God for Slaney Search and Rescue, who had a boat there and took them out.
“It was just unreal for that family.
“It was a great help to have Slaney Search and Rescue there.”
Mrs Grant said the family got a quick response from the rescue team.
She said: “We gathered everything. They said they would send an empty boat so we could bring a lot of things for the baby, all his things he needed. “We were lucky that way.”
The rescue boat arrived just after 9am – and the family was brought to safety.
Mrs Grant said: “Slaney Rescue were amazing.
“They put me into the boat first and then handed me the baby. The baby was in his car seat.
“I held on to the baby while my daughter Kasey got in next and Stephen helped both of us in.
“And then they got Stephen in and brought us down.”
Asked how the tot was during the drama, Mrs Grant replied: “He slept the whole way through it. He was okay.’
And first time mam Kasey also paid tribute to Slaney Search and Rescue.
She told us: “We would like to thank Slaney search and rescue for the work they put in for us. I would also like to Thank Councillor Jackser Owens who went above and beyond for our family and for the phone calls afterwards checking in on us!
“I also want to thank my partner and mother for being so supportive of myself and the baby during this traumatic experience.
“Also one of our cars worth €20,000 has been destroyed over the lack of a flooding system in Enniscorthy, which shouldn’t be the case as there’s no support or insurance that covers flood damage.”
And she said the whole incident was terrifying.
She said: “I was petrified. As a first time mam with a three week old son it’s any parent's worst nightmare experiencing something so traumatic.
“At the start of it all we didn’t think we would be able to get out at all until Jackser contacted Slaney Search and Rescue and within half an hour we had to pack up and get down to the boat before the water reached the electric box at our front door.
“All sorts of emotions went through me and I just wanted my son and my family safe.
“I had to stay brave and focused for the safety of my son, it wasn’t for me - everything I do is for him.”
Shane O’Connor, Chairman of Slaney Search and Rescue said he was approached at the scene by Councillor Owens looking for help for the young family.
He said: “We had the people in the boat within 10 minutes.
“It was heart wrenching. The woman in the boat was inconsolable that they were having to leave their residence.
“Luckily, they have family in the area and have somewhere to go.”
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