Four brothers took a recent trip to Ireland to honor the memory of their late grandfather, Walter John Butler, who recently passed away at 84-years-old. Eoghan Butler and his twin brother Declan are 18-years-old. They were accompanied by their older brother 21-year-old Walter and their brother-in-law 24-year-old Alex Thomson for the journey. They expected it to be a relatively lighthearted trip, a way to come together as a family and enjoy time together after the passing of their grandfather. What they didn’t know was that they would end up saving a life, according to Today .
The brothers were all ready for a fun day at the beach in Dublin when disaster struck. They saw a little girl in a pink flamingo raft getting swept out to sea. Her father, realizing that she was in danger, screamed for help. However, no lifeguards appeared to assist him. Luckily, the four brothers didn’t hesitate to run out to the water and begin swimming towards her.
The younger Walter recalls how his adrenaline kicked in and he began making his way towards the child without thinking.
“My instinct was ‘swim.’ It was ‘get to the girl.’ By the time we started thinking we were already swimming,” he said.
It took nearly an hour for the four brothers to save not only the 6-year-old girl, but her father who swam out to try to save her but ended up getting into trouble himself. It took them 25 minutes just to battle their way through the water to reach them. For just about anyone else, the feat would have been nearly impossible, their bodies becoming exhausted before accomplishing the task at hand. However, three of the four brothers just so happened to be competitive swimmers. They knew what they had to do and their skills allowed them to pull off the mission successfully.
Once they reached the girl and her father, they helped them get back to shore while emergency personnel attended to them. They both recovered from the incident. The next day, they visited the family and offered them chocolates and a card to show their appreciation.
Four Irish American men Walter Butler (21), Eoghan Butler (18), Declan Butler (18) and Alex Thomson (24) – have been hailed as heroes after saving a six year old girl who was swept out to sea at Portmarnock Beach! Well Done Lads! The four men are in Irel… https://t.co/CO4qRRpvsH pic.twitter.com/RXJlMWjAmZ
— My Irish Jeweler (@MyIrishJeweler) July 25, 2019
Following the ordeal, Walter reflected on the surprising turn the trip had taken. He and the other members of his family are grateful that they had the opportunity to honor their grandfather in this way.
“We were in Ireland to celebrate my grandfather’s life. It was fortunate that we could honor his life by saving a life. This was a big moment.”
