Brave Kildare gardaí rescue woman from River Barrow

At lunchtime on Saturday, Gardaí received a call from a member of the public alerting them that they had just seen a woman enter the River Barrow in Athy.

Garda Colman Curran and Garda Brendan Murphy were on duty and made it there within minutes, but could see that the woman was in serious difficulty in the water.

She was being quickly carried down stream by the strong current.

Both Gardaí worked together to get the woman safely from the water and to the Garda car for medical assistance - Garda Murphy went to retrieve a life buoy on the river bank so that Garda Curran, who was holding on tightly to the woman,  could get them both to safety.

Additional Garda assistance and colleagues in the Ambulance Service quickly arrived and the woman was brought to hospital for treatment.

She is expected to make a full recovery.

A Kildare Garda spokesperson said: "As Gardaí we’re trained to keep people safe but we’re still all human and sometimes when we’re faced with a challenging situation like this one, they won’t always have this positive of an outcome.

"We’re immensely proud of Garda Colman Curran and Garda Brendan Murphy for their swift, brave and considered actions."