Ohio man gripped rescue rope in his teeth as waves pounded Aran Islands ledge

This story was submitted to IrishCentral by Steve French, the Ohio driver who took Justin Francisco and his family to the airport for a bucket-list trip to Ireland and later learned on the return journey why only half the group had come home. Francisco, 38, from Columbus, had been knocked off his feet by a wave near the Wormhole on Inis Mór and swept onto a ledge, where tethered firefighters and Rescue 118 winchman Cormac Nott held him against the cliff in Force 7 winds until a helicopter could lift him clear.

As the owner and driver of Smart Ride Central Ohio, I’ve met a lot of interesting people and heard a lot of stories. One recent airport trip will stay with me.

On September 15, 2026, I drove four people to the airport: Justin Francisco, 38; his wife, Deirdre Huang, 37; Deirdre’s mother; and her mother’s friend. They were heading to Ireland on a bucket-list trip together.

Four people are heading out together on a family vacation.

When it was time for the return airport pickup, only Deirdre’s mother and her mother’s friend came home.

On the drive to their respective homes, I learned why Deirdre and her husband, Justin, were still in Ireland. Justin had been involved in a frightening accident on the coast of Inis Mór, one of Ireland’s Aran Islands, and had to be rescued.

A wave, a ledge, and a rope held in his teeth

On September 25, 2026, a wave knocked Justin, a Columbus, Ohio, resident, down and swept him onto a ledge near Poll na bPéist, better known as the Wormhole. According to the Aran Islands RNLI’s account, rescuers faced Force 7 southwesterly winds and rough seas.

Visitors watching from an upper ledge called the Irish Coast Guard, according to Lorna Siggins’s reporting for Afloat. Members of the Aran branch of Galway Fire & Rescue, wearing lifejackets and tethered to one another, kept the man secured as waves struck them while they waited for the helicopter.

According to an Irish Coast Guard statement supplied for this article, the person on the ledge was in serious danger of being swept out to sea. Coast Guard and fire service crews positioned a looped rope around him. Following their instructions, he used his teeth to take up the slack and help secure himself as waves crashed over him.

 The Wormhole, Inis Mór, with Atlantic waves breaking over the limestone ledges.
When Rescue 118 arrived, winchman Cormac Nott descended to secure him for the lift. Maritime journalist Lorna Siggins identified Nott, a member of the Sligo-based crew, in her October 1, 2026 report for Afloat.

According to Siggins’s report, a large wave struck as Nott tried to place the casualty into a rescue sling. He grabbed the fire crew’s rope and held the man against the cliff to shield him from the force of the water. The Coast Guard credited the rope with helping prevent both men from being swept off the ledge.

When the waves receded, the helicopter crew lifted them to safety. The rescued man was flown to Galway University Hospital for treatment. The Aran Islands RNLI lifeboat stood by offshore throughout the operation.

He was the same person I had driven to the airport just weeks earlier.

It’s one thing to read about a rescue in another country. It’s another to learn that the person at the center of it was someone you had recently driven to the airport.
He had been setting off with his family on a long-awaited vacation.

The rescue also deserves recognition for the people who made it possible: the local fire and rescue crews, the helicopter crew, and the lifeboat crew. Their work brought someone out of a dangerous situation and gave this family the opportunity to plan a homecoming.

Siggins reported that islanders called for recognition of the crews’ bravery. That praise reflects what they faced together: rescuers on the rocks, a helicopter crew overhead, and a lifeboat standing by in heavy seas.

Five weeks later, a ride back

On October 20, 2026, I picked up Justin and Deirdre at the airport and drove them home. Five weeks earlier, I had taken them to the airport at the beginning of a family vacation. Now I was there for their return, knowing how much had happened in between.

Deirdre later explained that Justin had also suffered a collapsed lung as part of his initial injuries. They had to remain in Ireland until it was resolved before he could fly home.

They were so grateful to be home after their unexpected extended stay in Ireland. They were looking forward to something simple that meant so much: sleeping in their own bed.

On the ride home, Justin showed me photographs that other people had taken while he was trapped on the ledge, before he was rescued. Seeing those pictures while sitting with the man who had lived through it made the story feel even more real.

Justin told me he had suffered eight broken ribs, a dislocated elbow, and a severely fractured wrist, along with many cuts on his head and face. He also told me that after he first fell, he had been unconscious for some amount of time.

It’s truly a miracle that he’s alive.

Airport rides give me a small glimpse into people’s lives. I meet them as they’re leaving for something or coming home from it, and sometimes I get to hear what happened in between.

This trip began as a bucket-list journey to Ireland. Now all four travelers were back home. After everything this couple had been through, I was grateful to be the one to drive them home. It’s a ride I’ll remember.

Justin and Deirdre also wanted to share their personal gratitude for everyone involved in the rescue. Deirdre said there was no word in the English language that could describe how grateful they both felt to the volunteers and rescuers who put their own lives at risk to save Justin. They knew those people did not have to be there, and they did not take that sacrifice lightly. They were profoundly grateful that the rescuers were there when Justin needed them.

* Steve French is the owner and driver of Smart Ride Central Ohio, a private transportation service serving the Columbus area. His work brings him into the lives of people whose journeys sometimes become stories that stay with him long after the ride ends.