Cork mother says man who saved her son from drifting to sea is a 'walking angel'

“I think it was a miracle. Kevin was meant to be there to save him. He was a great man to do what he did"

The mother of a 14-year-old boy who was saved from a stranded pontoon yesterday has spoken out.

Mary Burke from Cork has said the man who saved her son from drifting to sea is a ‘walking angel’ after he rescued her 14-year-old son Thomas yesteday.

Speaking on the Neil Prendeville Show today, the relieved mum admitted they could have been having a very different conversation this morning had Kevin Power not been in the right place at the right time:

“He’s our hero, I can’t explain how thankful I am to Kevin. He’s a walking angel on earth. It’s frightening to think about what could have been if he wasn’t there."

Kevin was out walking his dog with his partner when he noticed some commotion surrounding a pier after the young boy had become stranded on a pontoon and was drifting fast out to sea.

Brave Kevin raced home, got his kayak and managed to kayak against the tide out to the Thomas, who was panicking and very distressed as he cannot swim.

Mary continued: "When I heard the news I was more relieved than anything else. Ever since, I think I’m in shock that I could have lost my son. It’s crazy to think about. We’ve already lost my father and brother this year so I couldn’t imagine it.

“I think it was a miracle. Kevin was meant to be there to save him. He was a great man to do what he did. The wind was so strong, I don’t think even a good swimmer would have made it. He thought he was going to die. He was convinced and said all he could think about was his family. It was a big relief to have him home since.

“My son said he and a few of the boys were just messing but I think down around that pier the boys would be messing with the boats and they don’t realise the danger.”

“Kevin has been trying to get boxing classes set up in the town so the kids has something to do and get them out of just hanging around.”

Kevin spoke to Neil yesterday:

“I kayaked down the river and got it to him. He was very distressed and panicking.

"When I got to him he told me he thought he was going to die but I just reassured him and told him he was going to be fine and just to bare with me. He wanted to get off the pontoon but I told him stay on it and sit in the middle of it. I tied the life buoy onto the pontoon and kayaked in with it”

“It was across the tide and there was a lot of resistance, I have burns on my hands from the rope. I told him in the worst case scenario he could get off the pontoon and grab onto the life buoy and I’d swim in and pull him if I had to come off the kayak because he couldn’t swim.

"I was talking to him telling him we were getting closer. It was no joke, I’d get one pull on the oar each side and it would nearly pull me clean out of the kayak.

Thankfully, both Kevin and the boy managed to get in safely, but Kevin acknowledged that things could have gone much differently:

The guard had called the coast guard prior so when I got in I shouted over to them to let them know he was okay and they took him away.

"I didn’t sleep at all after it. I was just worried about what could have happened to him and his family. He was well out of sight by the time I got down. If he’d gone further out it would have been a completely different story.

"His mother rang me last night. She just couldn’t thank me enough. She was sick over it and I was just glad he was home and safe with her, thank God for that."