A 26 year old man, who was injured while kayaking yesterday with a group of friends in the Clare Glens area near Newport in Tipperary, has been treated in Limerick University Hospital for non-life threatening injuries, following a rescue operation which lasted some three and a half hours.
The rescue efforts were supported by the South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association (S.E.M.R.A), the Coast Guard Helicopter service from Waterford, together with the Newport Fire Service, the Killaloe Coast Guard, HSE Ambulance Staff and members of the Gardaí.
It is understood that the man ran into difficulties in a very inaccessible area, while attempting to traverse the river Clare. Latter river flows through a naturally occurring dense wooded area which is situated on both sides by a red sandstone gorge, known to visitors as the Clare Glens and which in turn displays numerous natural waterfalls, rock pools and rapids.
This extremely picturesque location has become a very popular visitor attraction for walkers, due to its sheer natural beauty and its offer of some wonderful photographic opportunities.
Mr Jimmy Barry, Deputy PRO for the Clonmel based S.E.M.R.A. stated that rescuers needed all the resources they could access to get the man and his friends to safety. Having assessing the overall situation it had been decided to lower a stretcher and mountain rescue volunteers to the casualty site.
This operation was the first call out for the S.E.M.R.A team in 2015, the last being on St Stephen’s Day 2014.
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