Well deserved.
Davitt Walsh, the man whose bravery saved the life of a four-month old baby during the horrific Buncrana tragedy earlier this year, was awarded a gold medal for bravery at sea at a ceremony in Farmleigh House in Dublin today.
Walsh was presented with the medal by Minister for Transport Shane Ross after heroically swimming out to Buncrana harbour in an effort to save the lives of a family whose car had slid from a slipway into Lough Swilly.
Sean McGrotty, 49, his sons Mark, 12, and Evan, 8, his mother-in-law Ruth Daniels, 59, and her daughter, Jodie Lee, 14, died tragically as a result, but Walsh was able to save the life of McGrotty’s daughter Rioghnac-Ann, who was only four months old at the time.
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Walsh, who hails from Kerrykeel in Donegal and previously played soccer for Finn Harps, Shelbourne and Bohemians in the League of Ireland, was conferred with the Michael Heffernan Gold Medal for Marine Gallantry.
Commenting at the ceremony, Shane Ross said that the medal was in recognition of Walsh’s "bravery at huge peril to his own safety to risk life, in an effort to save the life of a child".
