The father of one of the women rescued in Galway after spending 15 hours stranded at sea says they are both just happy to be alive.
Cousins Ellen Glynn and Sara Feeney drifted out while paddleboarding at Furbo beach on Wednesday night.
They managed to cling onto a lobster pot buoy and were eventually found by a local fisherman yesterday morning - 27 kilometres from where they had set off.
Sara was released from hospital yesterday while Ellen is still receiving treatment.
Her dad Johnny Glynn says they had to deal with large waves – and the frustration of coming close to being rescued on Wednesday night:
"I said could you see the helicopters? She said they were only maybe 50 metres away from the the night before. They were screaming but no one in the helicopters could hear them.
"The helicopters were hovering for a number of hours and they just got really unlucky. Imagine their spirits when they didn't get picked up and they were there for the night?"
Lifeboat rescue
The two women left Furbo beach after 8pm on Wednesday evening, and the alarm was raised just after 10pm when they had failed to return to shore.
They were wearing buoyancy aids, but not wetsuits. Sea conditions were calm but with an offshore north-westerly breeze.
The RNLI Aran island and Galway lifeboats, the Irish Coast Guard’s Shannon and Sligo-based helicopters and Doolin and Costello Coast Guards searched throughout the night.
The overnight search had focused on the inner Galway bay area and had extended west to Black Head.
