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Wappa Falls and rockpool flowing into the South Maroochy River. Alamy Stock Photo

Irishman dies while trying to save his son who slipped into rapids in Australia

The 49-year-old father-of-three Cassan Cowman jumped in after his son on 2nd January.

AN IRISHMAN HAS died in Australia trying to save his son after he slipped and fell into waterfall rapids in Australia, local police have said.

The 49-year-old father-of-three Cassan Cowman jumped in after his son at Wappa Falls in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in Queensland at around 2pm on 2 January.

Police said that Cassan’s son was recovered from the water by bystanders, but Cassan did not reemerge from the waters. Police later found his body.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds for his three children Ormond (11), Ella (9), and Torin (7).

The page describes the Queensland resident as “charismatic, Irish to a fault, enjoyed a whiskey but at the end of the day ultimately he simply loved his family”.

“He was a devoted family man through and through, working day and night to provide for his family,” it said.

Cassan is understood to have attended school in Co Cork.

Local media report that the Cowman family had recently moved to the Toowoomba region of Queensland.

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    Mute Patrick Agnew
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    Jun 15th 2020, 8:39 AM

    Stuck with a house full of women for months on end. No wonder I take a drink.

    299
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    Mute Disabled Junkie
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    Jun 15th 2020, 8:24 AM

    Legal cannabis please.

    208
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    Mute Eric
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:00 AM

    @Disabled Junkie: And who would support the under 18 market, the many professionals who could never buy drugs, even if they were legal, The THC, would be restriced too, there goes another big chunk of the market. Legalisation will not solve the problem.

    25
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    Mute JusticeForJoe
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:04 AM

    @Eric: I couldn’t really follow that, to be honest

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    Mute Eric
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:35 AM

    @JusticeForJoe: sorry joe, i went a little of track.

    1
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    Mute Disabled Junkie
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:44 AM

    @Eric: Sorry Eric, I dont really understand what you mean. If cannabis were legal people under 18 would not have the free and open access that they have now!

    41
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    Mute JusticeForJoe
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:59 AM

    @Eric: No worries. I’m curious to know what track you were on though. What are you advocating, if ya don’t mind me asking?

    7
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    Mute Disabled Junkie
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    Jun 15th 2020, 12:39 PM

    @JusticeForJoe: I dont think he will have one. However, heres one that found that states with medical marijuana programs have experienced a decrease in opioid related deaths.

    https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1898878

    10
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    Mute JusticeForJoe
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    Jun 15th 2020, 1:05 PM

    @Disabled Junkie: I know he won’t have one. At least not one that wasn’t written by a bible thumping hick who refers to it as the devil’s lettuce

    9
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    Mute Matthew Delaney
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    Jun 16th 2020, 10:49 AM

    @Disabled Junkie: we could really do with the tax income on this right about now.

    4
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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Jun 16th 2020, 2:20 PM

    @Matthew Delaney: Certainly seems better than hammering the liver with alcohol. I have to admire Botswana where they have to do without it for the duration.

    1
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    Mute Claude Saulnier
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    Jun 15th 2020, 8:30 AM

    Looks more contagious than Covid-19. Will it make the news headline every day as Covid-19 did?
    Mental health -to which this is part of- will have significant consequences for years to come.

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    Mute Ciarān
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:26 AM

    @Claude Saulnier: How is getting drunk contagious?

    31
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    Mute Gerard Casserly
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:32 AM

    @Ciarān: Who said anything about getting drink?

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    Mute Gerard Casserly
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:32 AM

    @Gerard Casserly: drunk?

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    Mute Coole Swan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:34 AM

    @Ciarān: LoL

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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    Jun 15th 2020, 8:46 AM

    I don’t believe a word of this. Surveys will tell you whatever you want them to depending on the questions asked but I’ll bet the question wasn’t “Didí you depend on alcohol to get you through the pandemic?”

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    Mute RogerRamjet
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    Jun 15th 2020, 8:51 AM

    @Justin Gillespie: Are you making just a general point about surveys or if not, what point are you trying to make?

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    Mute Maurice
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:01 AM

    @RogerRamjet:
    My reading of what he said is you can have leading questions best summed up in the yes prime minister clip
    https://youtu.be/G0ZZJXw4MTA

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    Mute Eoin Scanlon
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:13 AM

    @Justin Gillespie: “Drinking weekly” christ that’s broad. Yep I’m drinking weekly. 2 bottles beer this week. One whiskey last week. Nice survey

    12
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    Mute Paul O'Sullivan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:26 AM

    @Justin Gillespie: I agree 100% with you ask…. a guy can have one can a night watching tv because he is bored and lonely, does not mean he has a drink problem.

    8
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    Mute John Egan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 11:46 AM

    @Paul O’Sullivan: and this is what happens. It’s like Chinese whispers. The article doesnt say ‘drinking problem’ it states what you just said. “Turn to drink because bored and lonely”.

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    Mute Eric
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    Jun 15th 2020, 8:53 AM

    Bad decision by the Government to put the Country into lockdown. Had the government developed a stradedgy to protect the vulnerable, i.e aged and sick people, this would have been a much more cost-effective course of action. If you calculate the culmative costs and other damage done, by rhem lockdown, going forward, i.e. economic meltdown, bank reposessions, person death, unemployment, budget cuts to future social problems, suicide, alcohol and drug relaspes, etc, etc,etc, time will proved their course of action wrong, all this to save people who already had one foot in the grave, through drug, alcohol and obesity, self abuse. It’s the next generation, we shoud be looking after.

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    Mute Matthew Whelan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:11 AM

    @Eric: spot on Eric.

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    Mute Fred the Muss...
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:14 AM

    @Eric: it’s not a good sign Eric when you are drunk at this time of the morning.

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    Mute Paul Cunningham
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:45 AM

    @Eric: I disagree, if anything the government should have done the lockdown sooner to prevent more deaths. You don’t want the lockdown because woe is Ireland with its mental health and me me me, then fine, look to our neighbours across either the Atlantic or Irish sea and see how neither took a lockdown seriously and have either shrunken their precious economy by a fifth, or strained their own relations with their citizens to the point of destroying their own countries. If Ireland followed and did no lockdown, then we could have had much more hardship and more mental health issues with the amount of grieving happening of good men and women who ultimately would still be alive. Check the big picture of a lockdown. We didn’t do it for fun.

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    Mute Arch Angel
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:50 AM

    @Eric: Maybe you’d describe what this realistic and viable alternative might look like, one that would protect the vulnerable while at the same time being cost effective and listening to the experts. You would take advice from health and scientific experts and not someone who watched a couple of videos on Facebook and Youtube, wouldn’t you? After all I’m sure you’re more than qualified to dispel such words of wisdom, you must hold a PhD, at least a masters or two related to this subject. Don’t be shy.

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    Mute 8-Bit-Relic
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:09 AM

    @Arch Angel: You don’t have to look for Youtubers or other windy sources.

    Dr Holohan himself stated that in future clusters would be fought with local restrictions rather than another national lockdown. Given that we are currently reviewing ‘airbridges’ with countries which have far higher total numbers of new cases, a regional approach is actually a reviewed approach.

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    Mute John Egan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 11:43 AM

    @Eric: lockdown was the right decision. There’s no question. Length of that lockdown is what’s questionable. Flattening the curve has long been forgotten about now.

    11
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    Mute Andrew Barber
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    Jun 15th 2020, 1:41 PM

    @Eric: No, a very good decision. However the arguements for when and how lock down is eased are more valid and ultimately political albeit based on best advice. But to suggest it never should have happened is nuts and certainly not based on experience world wide.

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    Mute Paul O'Sullivan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:25 AM

    I for one, have not had a sip of alcohol since March 13th.
    Drinkaware are a charity with a CEO and they must be looking for donations.. they were never going to put something positive out.
    So does the guy who has 2 cans while watching Netflix every night because he is bored and lonely class as a person abusing alcohol??

    A lot of these charities love applying psychology to get your hard earned cash.

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Jun 16th 2020, 2:17 PM

    @Paul O’Sullivan: Every night? If he can afford Netflix and the cans, then he doesn’t need charity, but it is a problem. Bit much to do that as a daily habit.

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    Mute Declan Holden
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:17 AM

    Headline should be two -thirds of married men…..

    41
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    Mute Michael Kavanagh
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    Jun 15th 2020, 11:29 AM

    @Declan Holden:
    The other third discovered PornHub!

    20
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    Mute James Walsh
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    Jun 15th 2020, 1:43 PM

    @Michael Kavanagh: If it had existed when I was a teenager I might’ve gone days without leaving my room!

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    Mute Michael Kavanagh
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    Jun 15th 2020, 3:40 PM

    @James Walsh:
    Yup.
    Still, we had posters!

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    Mute ChuckE
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:24 AM

    The other third turn to alcohol to combat family

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    Mute James Walsh
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    Jun 15th 2020, 1:42 PM

    I’m the opposite, hate drinking on my own so hardly drink at all when I’m lonely or down, probably just as well really.

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    Mute Paul O'Sullivan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 1:46 PM

    @James Walsh: ditto , just cant beat a sociable pint….. to go into a bar a create general conversation with a stranger beats commenting on the Journal.ie any day.

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    Mute Colm Lawlor
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    Jun 15th 2020, 11:40 AM

    Majority probably married

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    Mute Matthew Whelan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:06 AM

    Everything has increased during this shite!! drinking, masterbation, suicide, Cancer, wrong diagnosis that can cost you your life, but only for 35 euro. Apparently a 1000 people die very year due to medical error in Ireland. Thought I’d throw that in there :-(

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    Mute Fred the Muss...
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    Jun 15th 2020, 9:16 AM

    @Matthew Whelan: 1000 people die due to medical error? What? You are in need of a mental hospital if you think that is true.

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    Mute Matthew Whelan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:07 AM

    @Fred the Muss…: Ya think so!maybe check before ya start spouting.

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    Mute Fabio Dillon
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:11 AM

    @Matthew Whelan: cancer referrals are down by 25%.

    So you’re wrong there.

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    Mute Belebop
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    Jun 15th 2020, 10:43 AM

    @Fred the Muss…: They are only the recorded cases too. Death, or near death and debilitating outcomes through misdiagnoses happen every day here.

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    Mute Matthew Whelan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 11:04 AM

    @Fabio Dillon: OK?

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    Mute Michael Kavanagh
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    Jun 15th 2020, 11:27 AM

    @Matthew Whelan:
    ‘Masterbation’ is an illness?

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    Mute James Walsh
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    Jun 15th 2020, 1:44 PM

    @Michael Kavanagh: Only when you spell it like that! This fella must have a bad dose of the old Catholic guilt or something?

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    Mute Michael Kavanagh
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    Jun 15th 2020, 3:42 PM

    @James Walsh:
    Well, not so bad spelling it wrong if you are doing it right!

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    Mute Matthew Whelan
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    Jun 15th 2020, 5:12 PM

    @James Walsh: sorry all,had to Google how to spell it. MASTURBATION

    2
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