Off-duty nurses rescue children in beach drama

Off-duty nurses rescue children in beach drama

16 July 2025

THE family of five young children, who got into difficulty in the sea off Minerstown beach on Sunday night, have thanked the off-duty nurses who helped save their lives.

The children, who are all siblings aged between 10 and 17, had been caught out by the rising tide at around 9.30pm.

The children’s aunt, Donna Lennon, said the family were “forever grateful” to Sinead Dunne and Veronica Sloan “for calling the Coastguard, getting the children out of the water safely, and putting their own lives at risk going into the riptide.”

Donna also thanked the Newcastle and Kilkeel Coastguard, Newcastle RNLI, emergency services and local residents for their response.

“Newcastle RNLI were absolutely amazing,” she said.

“They kept the children warm when they were out of the water and checked on them all the time.

“A local resident opened up their house for the three younger children and gave them pyjamas and warm socks.”

“The children had taken in a lot of water. They were taken to the Ulster Hospital by ambulance and thankfully were admitted very quickly.”

“They were checked for water in their lungs and discharged at around 6am on Monday morning.”

The children are now recuperating after their traumatic ordeal, supported by their family.

“The family is rallying round, everyone is getting looked after,” Donna said.

“We’re having lots of cuddles and chats.

“We’re encouraging the children to talk. We’ve got them books so that they can write down their feelings and deal with their trauma.

“In time we want to bring swimming back into their lives. We want to help them become stronger swimmers and to appreciate the water again.

“We don’t want that fear to take over their lives,” she added.

Sinead and Veronica spotted that the children were in danger when they decided to go for a swim while attending a family event nearby.

“We had noticed that there were people very, very far out in the water and the tide was coming in. We got speaking to a lady at the beach who said they were her kids,” Sinead said.

“It was only when we got further into the water that we realised they were shouting for help.

“We came across the first three children, who were the younger ones, and they said the other two girls were in trouble in the deeper water.

“Veronica luckily had her phone on her in a wet pouch and was able to phone the Coastguard straight away.

“Thankfully the three younger kids at that stage were able to swim back themselves, and I swam out to get hold of the other two and swam them back to Veronica and we walked them back to shore.

“The two girls were very distressed so at that stage we just tried to calm them down.”

Both nurses highlighted the importance of water safety at this time of year.

“it’s a lovely beach and it’s great that it’s open to the public but it’s just so important for people to be safe in the water,” she said.

“I’d just really encourage people to be aware of their surroundings, it was really beneficial to have a phone on us to contact the Coastguard.

“Knowing where you are locally and to be able to describe that to people.

“Check the tide times and use the Three Words app on your phone which can help emergency services locate where you are.”

When two initial responders from the Newcastle Coastguard team arrived at the beach on Sunday night, they found the children had been brought ashore by Sinead and Veronica.

The remainder of the Newcastle team arrived on scene, followed by Kilkeel Coastguard team and Newcastle RNLI’s inshore lifeboat, and provided casualty care for the five children who needed varying degrees of care.

The casualties were taken to a nearby house for warmth while waiting for paramedics who arrived and took the children to the Ulster Hospital.

Newcastle Coastguard team paid tribute to the two off-duty nurses.

“They showed remarkable bravery and fortitude in a rapidly deteriorating situation to calmly bring the three youngest children to shore before wading out up to their chests in water to rescue the two oldest children,” a spokesperson said.

“They then looked after the children until the arrival of the Coastguard and RNLI teams and remained at the scene right up until the ambulance service took the children to hospital.”

The spokesperson said the women “displayed outstanding courage, ignoring their own safety to ensure the children were not only brought ashore but cared for until the arrival of the emergency services.”

The spokesperson also thanked the owner of the nearby house for opening their doors to the children while they waited for the paramedics to arrive and to the shore team at Newcastle RNLI who brought additional supplies of oxygen to the scene by road.

Downpatrick councillor Conor Galbraith also praised Sinead and Veronica.

“I cannot commend the bravery of the two off-duty nurses who intervened in this situation highly enough,” he said.

“Five young children were caught up in the tide and I dread to think what would have happened if these nurses were not there to help.”

Cllr Galbraith noted that not only did the nurses rescue the children, but they stayed with them and cared for them until the emergency services arrived.

“They went above and beyond in a very difficult situation, putting themselves in harm’s way to bring these children to safety,” he said. 

“These nurses showed total selflessness and unbelievable bravery.”

The SDLP councillor also thanked the emergency services for their help and the owner of the house.

“Everyone involved in this rescue represents the best of our community and I hope the children involved will recover quickly from what must have been a scary experience,” he added.