A man in his 30s is recovering in hospital after losing his footing and falling more than 20 metres onto a beach from a cliff walk in Ballybunion, Co Kerry, earlier today.
A woman who was out walking the Nuns' Beach in Ballybunion heard the man’s cries for help and immediately rang emergency services.
The Irish Coast Guard Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Valentia initiated a rescue operation and tasked the local Ballybunion Sea and Cliff Rescue Service to the scene at 7.25am.
Accompanied by members of the Ballybunion unit of the Irish Coast Guard, the rescuers made their way down the cliff.
A paramedic from the team carried out an assessment of the man's injuries.
The Shannon based Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was tasked and airlifted the man to University Hospital Limerick where he is being treated.
It is understood the man suffered a broken pelvis.
The rescue coordinators believe the man fell from the cliff some hours earlier in darkness.
He did not suffer hypothermia because of the mild weather
Local rescuers who attended the scene said the man was extremely lucky the tide was out and the weather was mild.
"He was very lucky the tide was out, which made it easier for our team to get down and for the helicopter to land in close proximity to him to be able to extract him out of it," TJ McCarron of Ballybunion Sea and Cliff Rescue Service said.
It is understood the man became disoriented on the cliff while trying to walk down to the Nuns’ Beach in the early hours of this morning when he lost his footing and fell.
He also lost his phone in the fall.
The rescuers praised the quick action of the woman out walking in ringing the emergency 999/112 number.
