A man in his 60s is “lucky to be alive” after spending several hours stranded on rocks and mud following an early-morning crash near the old Youghal Bridge in Co Cork
The motorist, who was travelling in the direction of Cork for a medical appointment , lost control of his car which crashed through a wall, and then dropped around 15 feet onto the mud at around 4am.
Despite managing to escape from the wreckage, the man found himself in a desperate situation.
He crawled along the mud and rocks in an effort to reach safety before eventually collapsing from exhaustion.
Hours later a member of the public spotted the crashed car , then short time later, they discovered the man lying nearby, unconscious at around 8.30am.
A major multi-agency rescue operation was immediately launched, with emergency services from across the region rushing to the scene.
Among those involved were Youghal Fire Brigade, Youghal ambulance crews, emergency personnel from Ardmore, An Garda Síochána and the Coast Guard Service.
The man was found alive but suffering from hypothermia.
Rescue crews worked together to bring him from the rocks to the quayside in Youghal, where the National Ambulance Service, AerMed01 helicopter airlifted him to Cork University Hospital for treatment.
Sources within the emergency services have described the rescue as nothing short of miraculous, saying that someone was certainly looking down on the man.
The fact that he was discovered when he was has been described as absolutely crucial to saving his life.
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