'True heroes': Quick-thinking Donegal Gardai save teenager's life

Two Gardai from Donegal have been hailed as 'heroes' after helping to save a young man's life in County Louth.

The quick thinking and acting of Garda Roisin O'Donnell and Garda Rose McGlynn, who are both stationed in Ardee, saved the life of a 19-year-old man, whose parents' car sustained a puncture while they were transporting him to hospital.

Garda O'Donnell is a native of Corkey in Manorcunningham while Garda McGlynn is from the Glencar Irish area of Letterkenny.

Previously, in 2020, Garda O'Donnell and another colleague, Garda Keenan McGavisk, were awarded the bronze medal for bravery after saving a man from fast flowing water in the River Dee.

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Garda O'Donnell and Garda McGlynn were on patrol on May 26 along the M1 at Charleville, Co. Louth when they were waved down by a panicked couple stood by their parked vehicle on the hard shoulder.

Their son, Tabish, had sustained an arm injury and was being transported to hospital when one of the vehicle's tyres went flat.

Tabish's bone was protruding and he was experiencing significant blood loss.

The Gardai took Tabish’s mother’s jacket and his dad’s trouser belt and together they made a tourniquet to stem the bleeding.

The man's condition was deteriorating rapidly and, with an ambulance some distance away, the Gardai transported him to hospital. Garda McGlynn drove the patrol car while Garda O'Donnell worked to keep Tabish - who was falling in and out of consciousness and his arm turning pale – alert.

Tabish required emergency care on arrival at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana said: “His medical team have noted that had Garda O’Donnell and Garda McGlynn not administered life-saving treatment and applied a tourniquet when they had, Tabish would not have survived.”

Tabish subsequently underwent complex surgery in Connolly Hospital, Dublin the following day.

The Garda spokesperson said: Tabish’s life is no longer in danger and we are so grateful to learn that he is now in recovery.

“Some might think that ‘hero’ is too often cited, but we can say categorically that the quick-thinking, calm and measured response as team that afternoon make our our colleagues, Garda Roisín O’Donnell and Garda Rose McGlynn, true heroes.”