Young Kildare man receives Pride of Ireland award for this stunning act of bravery

An amazing winner from Kildare picked up his Pride of Ireland gong on Monday evening at the star-studded Irish Mirror awards event.

Alan Herdman, 24, picked up the Outstanding Bravery Award for helping save eight children from drowning in the Rusheen Bay waters near Barna, Co Galway.

Celebrities, such as Hozier, Shay Given, Katie Piper and Sean O’Brien, shone a light on inspirational, unsung heroes behind incredible stories of courage and selflessness at the glittering gala at The Doubletree by Hilton in Dublin.

Alan said: “I am so humbled to get this award. I never expected to get any nomination or praise or thanks for what I did.

“To even be nominated is an honour.”

Alan was nominated for the award after he saved eight children from drowning while he was teaching children how to kayak in Barna, Co Galway.

“I went around the corner I was greeted by the sight of eight children all at different stages of drowning,” said Alan.

Although Alan, 24, had often practiced emergency scenarios during his training as a kayak instructor, he had never been prepared for so many casualties being in the water at the same time.

“My first thought was that not all of these eight children are going to live today, this will be about minimising casualties,” he said.

“I gauged at what stage of drowning the kids were at and then paddled to those who needed me most. I grabbed a girl who was furthest away from me first.”

The NUI Galway student then plucked another child who was struggling nearby to the safety of his board. He then jumped off his board to swim and save the others.

As Alan struggled to keep his mouth above water under the weight of three children clinging to him and two on his paddle board, the hero’s colleague entered the water to rescue the three remaining youngsters after hearing Alan’s whistle call for help.

The hero believes the chances of all the children surviving would have been “one in a million” had he of done anything different on that fateful day last July.

His prestigious award was presented by former Miss World Rosanna Davison and model Roz Purcell.

Praising Alan on his dramatic rescue food blogger Roz, who also sat on the Pride of Ireland judging panel, said: “Alan’s category was probably the toughest category we had to judge. There were so many fantastic stories and narrowing it down was so difficult.

“Something really attracted us to Alan’s story. He had a natural instinct and how logically he saved the children. He was also so selfless in throwing himself in the water and there was also the outstanding amount of children he saved.”

Rosanna added: “I’m very proud to give the award to Alan. He deserves it and I hope he celebrates his win.”

It was the third year of the spectacular awards, sponsored by Lidl Ireland and presented by Amanda Byram.

A special programme, to be broadcast on UTV Ireland on Sunday, September 18 at 7.30pm, has captured all the emotional moments of the event.