A hero who dived into freezing water to save a baby girl in a tragedy that killed a family of five today slammed his former girlfriend who is suing over the stress of watching them die.

Davitt Walsh says his ex Stephanie Knox, who witnessed the horror unfold, is 'wrong' to try and claim compensation - adding: 'I am having no part of it.'

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Mr Walsh said: 'What I feel is that this is all wrong. It has got nothing to do with me - that is all about money.

'I am not interested in money. Stephanie can do whatever she wants but I don't want any money. I just want to get on with my life.

'I did my bit. I saved a child. I risked my life and nearly died. It was a miracle that I came out alive.

'I am struggling to move on. Jesus, how would you feel if you saw five people die? It is not nice. I get nightmares and I am struggling.'

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Davitt Walsh (pictured) dived into freezing waters to save a baby in a car tragedy that killed a family of five

Mr Walsh has slammed his former girlfriend Stephanie Knox (pictured) who is suing over the tragedy after watching the family die. He told MailOnline today: 'I am having no part of it.'

Mr Walsh ran a marathon with Louise James (pictured) the mother whose baby girl he saved in the car tragedy that killed five members of her family

Mr Walsh jumped into the water to help when an Audi Q7 jeep slid off the slipway in Buncrana, Donegal, Northern Ireland and ploughed into the Lough Swilly.

Sean McGrotty, 49, who was three times the drink drive limit, died along with his sons Mark, 11, and eight-year-old Evan, his mother-in-law Ruth Daniels, 57, and her 14-year-old daughter Jodie-Lee Tracey.

Mr Walsh managed to rescue four-month-old Rioghnach-Ann, who was the only survivor. The baby's mother Louise James, who was the partner of Mr McGrotty and lost five members of her family, was not present during the accident.

Ms Knox has controversially lodged a claim for 'loss of earnings' as a result of the accident.

She sent a letter claiming compensation to the McGrotty family - although her sister today claimed that she is suing the local council.

Ms James (pictured), who was at a hen do in Liverpool when the tragedy took place, is pictured with her baby daughter who survived and son Evan, who passed away

Sean McGrotty (back left) and his sons Mark, 11, and Evan, eight (pictured front) died when the Audi they were in plunged off a pier and into the water. Their baby sister Rionaghac-Ann (pictured with their mother Louise James, who was not involved in the crash) survived

Ms James's mother Ruth Daniels, 57, (left) and her younger sister Jodie-Lee Tracey, 14, (right) also died in the accident in March 2016

Mourners at the funeral carry one of the coffins at the funeral of the family of five killed in the

Ms Knox, a cardiac physiologist, told Independent.ie.: 'I'm under so much stress and heartache and I would love it to just blow over.

'I knew there was a claim being made against the council and the insurance company...I know what they're [the family] going through is hard.

'I've been suffering with PTSD ever since that day. It took me a long time to get help because I was afraid to talk about the accident. I just wanted to hide it. I'm on medication and everything. This has just been a horrible nightmare.'

Her solicitor Maeliosa Barr added that she is not suing the McGrotty family - adding: 'She is making a claim, on the advice of her legal team, against Donegal County Council and the estate for injuries sustained.'

Ms Knox and Mr Walsh separated several months after the tragedy in March 2016.

Mr Walsh cradles the four-month-old baby girl that he saved

Her former partner said that he was still undergoing counselling over the ordeal.

He said he and Ms Knox had broken up 18 months ago, but refused to reveal the reason. 'That is between me and her,' he added.

But he said he believed that Ms James, the mother of the children who perished, should press ahead with her compensation claim.

'Louise has to be compensated obviously. She lost her family. I don't think money is ever going to help her. But if she wants money she should have it.'

He said he was no longer in contact with Ms James, adding: 'She changes her number every few months.'

Ms Knox's sister Laura said in a Facebook post she would 'never be as spiteful to claim off the family' and stressed that she thought she was suing Donegal County Council.

Laura explained: 'Stephanie was informed by the Gardai [police] that people who were on the pier that day were claiming so Stephanie went to her solicitor for advice.

'Stephanie is not the type of person that people are making her out to be all over Facebook and anyone who actually knows her would know this.'

She added: 'She was under the impression that the claim was against the Donegal council and due to the same reason that the family were claiming for - algae being on the slipway and other reasons.

The family died when the car slid off Buncrana Pier and into the waters of Lough Swilly in Donegal (pictured) in March 2016

'That day has ruined her life forever witnessing five people die in front of her and her life will never be the same.

'So before you go and give your opinion think of what she may already be going through as it is and that by giving your opinion about something you know nothing about, the knock on affect that it may have.'

Mr McGrotty's elderly father Noel, 86, has told of his confusion after being a letter by Ms Knox.

He added: 'It was a big envelope full of legal documents - hard for the ordinary man in the street to understand,' he said.

'Then I saw the name Knox and realised it was from the girl that took the baby when she was brought out of the water that day.'

But he said he was unsure why he was sent the documents because he is not the executor of his late son's estate.

Louise James (pictured) has filed High Court proceedings against Donegal County Council over the Buncrana pier tragedy in which her partner, two sons, sister and mother died

Ms James (pictured centre) is pictured leaving the Lake of Shadows Hotel in Buncrana, where she said her heart was shattered by her family's deaths

An inquest in November 2017 concluded Mr McGrotty died by misadventure.

It later came to light his partner Ms James was suing the council after claiming the slipway at the pier should have been closed to the public.

High Court proceedings began on June 9 last year.

But legal experts are skeptical she will have a case. A lawyer has said: 'The fact that he, as the driver of the car which went over this pier, was three times over the drink drive limit, could play a significant part in deciding any civil court case.'

They added that any culpability the council may have would be severely reduced by Mr McGrotty's drink driving.

Ms James said the pier was an 'accident waiting to happen' because there were no signs warning of the dangers of slipping and a gate designed to control crowds using a summer ferry service in the popular tourist spot was left open.

'I knew something wasn't right': Woman reveals moment she found out five members of her family had died The bereft woman who lost her mother, partner, sister and two little boys in the Buncrana drowning tragedy told an inquest how she knew something was wrong the moment she got a phone call alerting her to the tragedy. Louise James told the hearing that she had last seen her family on Friday, March 18, when her partner Sean McGrotty and the two boys had left her at a friend's house ahead of a hen weekend in Liverpool. She was at the airport travelling back from the weekend when the incident took place. Ms James told the inquest how minutes before the tragedy, she spoke on the phone with her tragic sister Jodi Lee who said the boys were playing in a playpark on the shorefront in Buncrana. Half an hour later, she received a phonecall from her brother Joshua. She told the hearing: 'I got a feeling something wasn't right.' Joshua then told Ms James there had been an incident in Buncrana and that a car had gone into the water, but it was not clear who was in there. Ms James said she had tried to contact both her partner and her sister but could not reach them. When she landed in Belfast, she was informed that five members of her family had died. She travelled to her home in Derry before going to Letterkenny University Hospital to see her surviving child and to identify the bodies of the rest of her family. Advertisement

'My heart is shattered,' she said, as she described Mr McGrotty as a wonderful partner and adoring father and spoke of her 'disbelief, pain and anger'.

'He lived for them and it is clear from what this inquest has heard that in fact he died as he lived, in that he could have saved himself and chose not to,' she said.

'I firmly believe the slipway should have been closed to the general public or else proper warning signs displayed as it was an accident waiting to happen.

'Hopefully lessons will be learned and the recommendations made following this inquest will be implemented.'

The panel had been asked to deliberate on whether the deaths were accidental or a result of misadventure.