A SLIGO GARDA has been hailed as a hero after he jumped into the Garavogue river to rescue a man who’d jumped from a bridge in the middle of the town.

The incident happened yesterday afternoon when Garda Stephen Fahy was on patrol in his patrol car and spotted the unfolding incident.

A man, believed to be a foreign national, was seen jumping into the river at Hyde Bridge with a large number of people gathering to see what was happening. A number of those present recorded the incident on their mobile phones.

Garda Fahy then proceeded to swim out to the man with the help of local barman Adam McGoldrick.

Between them they managed to drag the man to the safety of a boat that was provided by another garda.

The man was then brought to Sligo University Hospital where he is recovering.

Speaking today following the incident, Garda Ray Wims of the local Garda Representative Association said that the actions of Gard Fahy are indicative of the kind of heroism gardaí engage in as part of their jobs.

“Every day of the week young guards like Garda Fahy, and other guards around the country and in Sligo, they go out and they do their job. This is the fourth or fifth rescue from the Garavogue river that guards have assisted with this year,” he told TheJournal.ie.

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“Irrespective of what comes out or what controversy hits An Garda Síochána, you will have guards like this that will come in on a sunday afternoon like Garda Fahy and will go and jump into a river and swim out to rescue someone he doesn’t know.”

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