News from Ireland - news from around the 32 counties

Her nursing skills were put into use when she rushed into the water at Denham, north of Perth, to a boat which had just exploded and was beginning to go up in flames.

She helped pull the skipper off the seven meter aluminium jet boat and applied burn cream and cleaned his wounds as they waited for an ambulance to take him to the Royal Perth Hospital.

Leah (25), a past pupil of the Jes on Sea Road, spoke about the incident saying she was greatly helped by her friends, Tara Shine and Veronica Dick, former schoolmates and their German friend, Veronika Klein.

“We had just driven into Denham for coffee and were parked by the water when we heard a big bang. We saw smoke coming from a boat, but at that stage we didn’t know if anyone was on it. I asked a few builders if everything was alright and told them I was a nurse.

“They got into the water and called me when they saw that the skipper was on board. There was a large cooler on top of him, so the builders got that off him and helped lift him out. At this stage I was in the water, up to my hips, holding onto the boat and directed them so that he was evenly and safely carried to shore. I held up his head as he wasn’t very responsive.

“We could see that there were flames licking his back and we knew we had to get him off the boat quickly. I cleaned up his wounds, the girls got water to put out the flames. I was told he had 40% burns, but I believe that his condition is a lot better than what was said initially. None of the burns I saw were third degree burns.

Leah from Monument Road has been traveling around Western Australia for the past six weeks and is now heading to Melbourne, where she hopes to find a job.
(Source: GalwayBay Fm)

Kerry

A father of three who repeatedly raped a young girl at a house in Co Kerry was given a 10-year jail sentence at the Central Criminal Court last week.

He had pleaded not guilty to eight charges of rape and sexual abuse, which took place at a house in Kerry between December 25th, 2001 and January 31st, 2002.

Defense counsel Anthony Sammon SC told Mr Justice Barry White that his client did not accept the jury’s decision.

The girl was 10 at the time. In her victim impact statement the woman, now 20, said the abuse had “ruined her life”.

She said that as a result of the attacks she had begun drinking and taking drugs at the age of 10.
“It was the only thing that would black out the pain. Now I’m an addict,” she said.

She told the court that her own child has been taken from her because of her addiction issues but that she had been starting to deal with these issues until the trial began.

“I started drinking and taking drugs again when the trial began,” she said. “I hope the nightmares will stop some day. This has ruined my life.”

Det Garda Bill Stack told Karen O’Connor, prosecuting, that the guilty man was 32 when he moved into the home of his brother’s partner, the victim’s mother.

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Nster.com