TRAGEDY AVERTED AS 5-YEAR OLD FALLS INTO MANHOLE
A possible tragedy was this week narrowly averted by the quick thinking action of the mother of a 5-year old Fermoy boy who fell into a sewage manhole while playing at a housing estate in the town.
Sean Molloy returned from school on Monday afternoon last and later went out to play with his 4-year old brother, Darragh, in the Crann Ard Estate, off Pike Road, where they currently reside with their mother Claire and her partner.
“At around 4pm, Darragh, Sean’s younger brother, came into the house and told me that Sean had fallen into the drain. I ran out and jumped into the hole. At that point he was submerged under the sewage and he couldn’t swim. I couldn’t even see his head. By the time the emergency services arrived, the gardai and the ambulance, a kind neighbour had already come with a ladder to help us rescue the situation,” Claire reveals, still very much shaken after the ordeal.
The mother and child were subsequently taken to Cork University Hospital where they were examined and given a tetanus shot, after their airways were cleared of the sewage. The 5-year old ingested some of the sewage while submerged.
“If he inhaled the material it would have been a lot worse,” the boy’s mother told The Avondhu. The manhole was estimated to be about 10 feet deep a garda spokesperson confirmed while the actual sewage in it was approximately 5 feet according to the mother.
At the time the incident took place the manhole, normally covered by a metal lid, was it is alleged covered only by a plywood sheet. It is understood from one of the construction workers on the site that they were notified of the missing lid after the incident occurred and that it was subsequently reported stolen to the gardai on the same day.
Gardai confirmed that report to that effect had been filed with the station in Fermoy. As The Avondhu went to press this Wednesday the lid was still awaiting replacement.
Sean Molloy is enjoying the rest of the week off from school, as he recharges his batteries after this week’s near tragedy.
Published:
Thursday 18th September 7:24pm
