Another member of the Oliver family who rescued two paddle boarders in Galway Bay last week has helped save the life of a kite surfer who got into difficulty in the bay at the weekend.
Fisherman Patrick Oliver and his 18-year old son Morgan were hailed heroes when they rescued Sara Feeney (23) and her 17-year old cousin Ellen Glynn after the pair spent the night drifting on their paddle boards in a storm.
The 38-year old father and his son correctly worked out using tidal and weather information where the pair might have drifted and located them clinging to a lobster pot buoy south of the Aran Islands, almost 20 miles from where they had entered the sea in Furbo.
This weekend David Oliver, a brother of the fisherman, helped save a kite surfer who got into difficulty at Ballyloughnane near the city.
The man, in his 30s and understood to be English, set off on Saturday afternoon around 4.50pm in a north westerly breeze of three to four knots as the tide was going out.
The man, who was wearing a wetsuit but did not have a life-jacket, fell off the board a number of times and became heavily fatigued before being blown on to Rabbit Island.
The alarm was raised by a member of the public and the Irish Coastguard tasked Galway RNLI Lifeboat and the surfer was rescued at 5.20pm. He did not require medical treatment.
The volunteer crew included David Oliver, brother of fisherman Patrick who rescued the paddle boarders last weekend, while another brother Kieran is also a member of the Galway RNLI.
The relieved kite surfer thanked the crew who rescued him, including helmsman Declan Killilea, Brian Niland, Joanne Casserly and David McGrath, with shore crew Sean King and David Oliver.
Irish Water Safety CEO John Leech issued a renewed appeal last week after the paddle boarders, both of who were wearing buoyancy aids, for all water users to wear lifesaving equipment.
“The vast majority of people now wear life jackets, more than 80 per cent of people do, but there is still that 15 to 20 per cent who just seem to think they’re not for them,” he said.