A CLARE surfer has been praised for his quick actions after he saved a sheep from drowning in Lahinch.
The surfer, who has been named as 29-year-old Johnny Casey, was surfing the waves in Lahinch yesterday when he noticed a sheep who had fallen from the clifftop had become marooned on a ledge in the rough seas.
It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time, with the surfer telling The Farming Independent that the sheep wouldn't have been spotted from land as it was hiding in the cave.
With the tide starting to come in, there was a real danger the sheep could be swept into sea and drown, the Casey added.
"She had ended up there after falling down the cliff, he said, adding that he paddled over to her and "she was quite shaken".
Knowing the family who owned the farm atop the cliffs, Casey sped to the Leahy home, telling Mrs Leahy "that one of their sheep had gone off the cliffs".
Having grown up on a farm himself, Johnny Casey was experienced with livestock, and as a surfer could handle his waves, and so he and one of the Leahy sons returned to the beach to rescue the sheep.
"We had to wade through rock pools and the water coming in,” he told the outlet.
"When we got to her, the sheep was so tired that she couldn’t walk. She was absolutely exhausted. The poor thing couldn't stand and her legs were going out from under her."
Not all heroes wear capes...some wear wooly hats! 🐑
Lahinch surfer Johnny Casey came to the rescue of this helpless...
Posted by AgriLand.ie on Thursday, 7 January 2021
"The tide was coming in and it would probably have drowned if she was left there," he told the outlet.
"We threw her on the shoulders and carried her back across the reef. I ended up drenched and absolutely soaked.”
Eventually, the pair managed to bring the sheep back to the safety of the strand, and Casey tied the animal to a rope and escorted her back to the town where a tractor was waiting to transport her home.
Admitting that he "got some funny looks" from passersby, Casey said the thought of 'How did I get involved in this?''crossed his mind as he led the sheep back up to town on a rope.
But it was a case of all's well that ends well, as the sheep was brought home, exhausted but no worse for wear.
