Harrowing video of Donegal pier tragedy hero is viewed 1.4 million times

A heart-breaking RTE video of Davitt Walsh, who saved 4-month-old baby Rionaghac-Ann in the tragedy in Buncrana, Co Donegal has been viewed more than 1.4 million times.

The footage has also been shared tens of thousands of times on social media.

Relatives of the five people who died in a drowning tragedy in Co Donegal are today awaiting the release of their loved ones' remains so they can finalise funeral arrangements.

Sean McGrotty, 49, his sons Mark, 12, and Evan, 8, his mother-in-law Ruth Daniels, 59, and her daughter, Jodie Lee, 14, died when their car slid off the slip way on Buncrana pier into Lough Swilly on Sunday.

Mr McGrotty's four-month-old baby daughter Rionaghac-Ann, who was rescued, is said to be in a stable condition in Letterkenny University Hospital.

Davitt revealed how he stripped and swam out to the rapidly sinking car in the water.

He recalled: “At this stage, with the window broken, the father sat out on the ledge, and the water started to seep in. He [the father Francis] handed me the baby infant and he said ‘take the baby’. I took the baby, and I said ‘someone else’, I wanted to save more people.

“I had a grip of another, I think he was about 12 years old but he was pulled away from me somehow. When I think about it now, I simply could not have held him up as well and managed to swim away.

“The water started going in. The father just looked at me and said, ‘save my baby’. I took the baby and held it above my head and I swam back to shore. Every now and again the baby was looking down at me. I could just think about getting it to safety."

“It was terrible. When I swimming out I didn’t know what was going to happen – how I was going to help. The baby was handed to me. When it happened the father looked at me. He had to make a decision. He could have saved himself because he was out of the car – he went back in to his family.

“I couldn’t do anything else. The car went down. The whole lot went down. It was so fast. I went back to the shore. My girlfriend took the baby off me. I was so exhausted on the pier.”

The baby was taken to nearby Letterkenny Hospital where she was described as being currently in a stable condition.

“I just took the baby and we actually thought it was dead,” said girlfriend Stephanie Knox. “It wasn’t making a sound. It was wearing little blue leggings and a red top. But then we heard a little cough and we realised it was alive. I wrapped it in my coat and the emergency services came along and took over.”

In a statement yesterday the Daniels and McGrotty families said they have been devastated by the tragic events.

The families said they have been inundated with support both from the local community and further afield which is "deeply appreciated".

The families have appealed to the media to respect their wish for privacy.

A funeral service for those who died will take place at the Holy Family parish church in Ballymagroarty in Derry at 2pm on Thursday.

A Book of Condolences is due to open in Derry in the coming days.

Sean McGrotty's brother, Frank, spoke of the family's devastation at the loss of five family members, coming eight months after the death of his sister.

He said: "This has devastated the whole family we are totally in shock and dismay. I don't know how we're going to come back from this one.

Frank McGrotty said his brother doted on his two sons and his new baby daughter.

He added that he did not know how Sean's partner, Louise, will manage to get on with her life and pick up the pieces.

The whole family, just wiped out. Just have to take one day at a time. It's hard to say this but, just put our faith in God.

View the video here: https://www.facebook.com/rtenews/videos/1264819520213714/