A woman who had to be airlifted from Blarney Castle in Co Cork, after she fell down steps onsite breaking three vertebrae has paid tribute to the emergency services for their swift and professional response.
Mary Cronin of Whitechurch, Co Cork, was touring the castle last Wednesday afternoon at around 2pm when the accident occurred.
She had gone on a post-Christmas outing with her son Harry and daughter Millie.
Harry had kissed the Blarney Stone.
Afterwards Mary decided to go back down the steps with her son and daughter having become a bit uncomfortable about being so far up the castle.
Unfortunately, Ms Cronin fell down eight stone steps damaging three vertebrae.
She told the Neil Prendeville Show, on Cork's Red FM, that she was shocked by the intensity of pain she felt following the fall.
She said: "When I hit the bottom, which was a very sharp step, there was like a burn that went up through me that I knew I had done some damage. It was my lower back on the left-hand side.
"So I screamed for the kids, they were up in another room (of the castle.) They ran and got help."
One of the people who came to the assistance of Ms Cronin was Ciara Revins, who is a producer with Red FM.
Ballyvolane crew now back at home station following a difficult and technical extraction of a patient from Blarney Castle.
— Cork City Fire Brigade (@CorkCityFire) December 29, 2021
As always great interagency work with @AmbulanceNAS and @IrishCoastGuard to give the patient the best care possible. pic.twitter.com/jZhYRPPiHP
Ms Revins and another man, identified only as Adam, raised the alarm.
Ms Cronin said Ms Revins brought the kids aside as "they were in an awful state."
She reassured her children that they would get help and after that "it became a bit of a blur."
Staff at the castle also rushed to her assistance and Ms Cronin was given gas and air by a paramedic.
Valentia Coastguard and the Rescue 115 helicopter joined units of the ambulance and the fire service in the rescue. The rescue was complicated given that Ms Cronin was so far up the castle.
Rescue 115 airman Philip Wren had to go down in the castle by winch before bringing Ms Cronin into the helicopter.
The helicopter landed in a field nearby and the injured woman was transported to hospital via ambulance.
Ms Cronin said that everyone involved showed great heroism during the unfortunate incident.
She also thanked neighbours and friends for their extraordinary generosity over the last few days.
In a post on Twitter, Cork City Fire Brigade described the rescue as a "difficult and technical extraction of a patient from Blarney Castle."
They praised the ambulance service and the Coastguard for "great interagency work" which gave the patient "the best care possible."
