Rogue Wave Sweeps Woman Off Ireland Cliff's Edge
Apu Gupta was rescued by a couple also visiting the island.
— -- A woman visiting Ireland’s Aran Islands was saved by a young couple after a giant wave knocked her off a cliff and into the sea.
Apu Gupta, 21, from London, was taking video from the cliff’s edge last week when she was knocked 40 feet down onto rocks by the wave.
“I tried to run, but it pushed me straight down. It was like being in a waterfall and that probably cushioned the fall,” Gupta told the Irish Times. “I was so scared because I thought the wave was going to come again.”
“My ankle was completely smashed and the pain was bad,” Gupta, who was visiting the islands with her mom, told the newspaper.
Two other tourists visiting the island saw Gupta’s fall and immediately sprang into action, according to the Times.
“We could see her almost being swept out to sea, so I took out my phone to dial 999 but there was no reception,” Seamus McCarthy, a paramedic, told the newspaper.
The other tourist, identified by the Times as Fionnuala Quigley, a teacher, ran to the nearest house to get help. The pair, by now aided by others, fashioned a rope out of a jacket and a backpack and lowered it down to Gupta.
Gupta tightened the backpack around her waist while her rescuers pulled her up the cliff to safety.
“It was still dangerous on the cliff ledge and we sat her down to calm her before getting her all the way to safety,” McCarthy told the Times.
Gupta’s fall was captured on camera and posted to YouTube Wednesday.
The economics student is now recovering at a local hospital and thanks the good Samaritans for her safe rescue.
“Seamus saved my life and the policeman there was also wonderful,” Gupta told the Times. "Everyone was so helpful to me.”