Family dramatically rescued by surfers after getting into trouble at Cork beach

A family of four were dramatically rescued from a riptide by local surfers off a Cork beach this afternoon.

A father, mother and their two teenage daughters were described by a spokesperson for the Valencia Coast Guard as being “shaken” following the brief encounter with strong currents at Garrettstown Beach.

The spokesperson told The Echo that numerous of 999 calls were placed from 4.30pm reporting swimmers in difficulty at the beach.

Following the distress calls, the coast guard 115 air rescue unit deployed from Shannon, along with RNLI units from Kinsale and Courtmacsherry, as well as the local coast guard team from The Old Head of Kinsale and Seven Heads unit.

“It had potential to be a big incident,” the spokesperson said. 

A surfer, and another member of the local Garrettstown Surf School assisted the family, bringing them ashore at 4.37pm.

“They [the surfers] were very brave.”

“The family were caught in a riptide, they were shaken, but no further medical assistance was needed," said the Coast guard spokesperson.

He said there had been a small craft warning in place. 

"While this is for boats, our advice to people is that they also heed these warnings."