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THE SISTER OF Rescue 116 Captain Dara Fitzpatrick has described how her family has been coping as the second anniversary of her death nears.
Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, Captain Mark Duffy, winchman Ciarán Smith and winch operator Paul Ormsby all lost their lives after Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 116 went down.
Rescue 116 crashed after it struck Blackrock Island off the Mayo coast on its way to a refuelling stop at Blacksod. It was due to refuel before taking part in a rescue operation.
The bodies of Smith and Ormsby were never recovered.
Speaking on the Ray D’Arcy show on RTE Radio 1 today, Niamh Fitzpatrick described how Dara’s son Fionn, a baby at the time of his mother’s death, has become a little boy Dara would be “so proud of”.
She said: “Fionn is great. He was a little baby when Dara died and he’s a little boy now. I think she would be so proud of the little boy that he’s become. She gave him such a foundation, she’d be so proud of that.”
Niamh said the family has found the days leading up to the anniversary of the crash very difficult. She described how the initial aftermath Dara’s death was like a blur and now they’re feeling her loss without the shock – something Niamh said she finds more painful.
She added: “It’s a tough couple of days. It gets different over time – maybe putting my psychologist hat on. That first year, we were probably anesthetised. This year, we are dealing with the grief without anything to numb the pain, so there’s a reality about it.
“It’s shock the first year, with the trauma, as well as grief and it’s almost like you have to deal with that first before you deal with the grief.”
The search for the crew lasted 42 days. Fitzpatrick said she owes the people of Blacksod an eternal debt of gratitude for their warmth and support throughout the weeks..
She explained: “I’m really grateful for the opportunity to thank them.
“My way of putting this, is as a family member, it is in the absolute worst of times, that we were met with the best of humanity in that they could not do enough for us.
“This all happened in the middle of the night, we had a community woken up to this and they just dropped their lives.
“I don’t think we will ever be able to thank them but even to say the words, that I’m grateful for that.”
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sure if they say they’re Irish….get the Irish media on/ board they’ll be back in temple bar for christmas
@Frank Dubogovik: That’s a bit silly.
What ever happened to that Irish lad from the same brotherhood, who said he was going to fight and bring them all here.
@Gavin R:
He was treated like a prince on the Late Late…
This guy is a military General having come to power in a military coup backed by the CIA and US military. The courts are meer extensions of that military rule and these trials are a sham.
@Charles Williams: the alternative is not some shining utopia with freedom for all.
The alternative is the aftermath of Iraq and Libya.
The Muslim Brotherhood is not our friend. It’s no rational person, Muslim or otherwise friend.
He is keeping his country together.
@Fiasco99: “brutal dictatorships where the police torture suspects as standard procedure are fine with me because the alternative could be worse”
Jesus wept.
@Fiasco99: that alternative was voted in by democratic election. Just because you, or more importantly, the US Americans don’t like who the Egyptians voted for doesn’t mean they can set up a coup d’etat and irradicate democracy.
@Cormac Ó Braonáin:
Suggest you learn a bit about Morsi’s conduct when in office – ordinary Egyptians turned against him when it became clear that his intention was to destroy the very democracy that got him elected in the first place so that he couldn’t be challenged.
@Cormac Ó Braonáin:
This is a good starting point for you, I’ll let you do the rest for yourself:
https://cihrs.org/one-year-into-morsis-presidencymanifold-abuses-and-systematic-undermining-of-the-rule-of-law/?lang=en
@mattoid: cheers for the link. I’m guessing that article from 5 years ago before the Yanks irradicated democracy and put their puppet in power is the most recent one you’ve read from the very website you posted. Go ‘home’ on that site and you’ll see a picture of Egypt that is a lot worse under el-sisi.
@Cormac Ó Braonáin: horrible governments bent indestructible have been voted into many countries. I’m glad when they fall.
The brotherhood were democratically elected. But there was never going to be another election.
The brotherhood placed the Luxor masacare organiser as the governor of a state. They were more oppressive than Sisi I has been. They were a perverted regeneration that deserves to fall.
I am glad Egypt has avoided the chaos.
So much for free legal aid in Egypt.
@Jams O’ Donnell: the Yanks are in control there now. Irradicated democracy by setting up the coup d’etat. Now controls the border to Gaza and occupied Palestine.
Ah! Well! Only one was a real Bad(d)ie!!!
Its interesting how the democratically elected Brotherhood are the murderers and the coup leaders the lawmakers. If you believe in democracy you have to question this so called trial. If you believe in democracy you must respect the democratic vote. If you believe in demcoracy you must be against foreign interference in Egypt which overthrew the elected government.
We are continually being sold the story that there is only one democracy in the middle east. I wonder why?
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