A BELLHARBOUR VOLUNTEER played a key role in the dramatic overnight rescue a man who became trapped in a cave on Sunday in Fermanagh.
On the same day that Clare and Fermanagh played each other in the Allianz National Football League in Cusack Park, the counties combined off the field that morning in a dramatic rescue attempt.
A man in his twenties got into difficulty on the northside of Cuilcagh Mountain, situated on the Cavan-Fermanagh border close to Enniskillen. The man reportedly became too tired to continue on the return journey out of the cave system.
Members of the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation from across the country then mobilised to assist in the rescue operation. The alarm was raised at 8.55pm on Saturday with volunteers across the country being put on standby at 10.45pm. ICRO volunteers quickly found the man and assessed his condition. A “hot point” was then set up underground where the man was warmed and fed.
Teams of rock breakers and a rigging team worked long into the night to free the caver. The man was brought safely to the surface and rescue teams were stood down at 4.00am on Sunday morning. The man is not believed to have suffered any injuries.
Around 20 volunteers from both sides of the border helped to free the man, coming from a variety of locations including Belfast, Cork, Larne and Clare.
Adam De Eyto, originally from Meath but living in Bellharbour for the past thirteen years, was one of the volunteers involved in the rescue. A lifelong caver, he said he first became involved in the ICRO in university following the death of a close friend in a caving accident.
He told The Clare Echo, “From memory I think we were put on standby around 6.00pm and we were called out around 11.00pm. The casualty, as we describe them, was at the bottom of a rift, which is a steep, vertical section of a cave. The casualty had tried a number of times to get up through the section and couldn’t”.
He continued, “To free them, it involved moving some rock at the entrance, breaking the rock with what’s called plugs and feathers, effectively drilling the rock and using steel wedges to crack the rock open. A small boulder was removed and then a hauling system was then rigged to lift him out of the cave”.
Commenting on the rescue operation, ICRO chair Stephen McCullagh said, “It was a very successful rescue. We were alerted around 8.30pm last night and a number of local wardens – who’re highly experienced rescue people – made their way up to the cave”.
“It became clear that we had to extend the call out to the wider ICRO group. With more volunteers, we were able to engineer an easier route out of the cave, and the caver was then hauled vertically to the surface with ropes,” he concluded.
