An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 9 Vox Pops E arly one Sunday morning in April, four 28 Inf bn soldiers based in Finner Camp rescued a trapped family from their car after it went off the road while travelling around a dangerous bend in bal- lybofey, Co Donegal. The occupants of the car were Neil and Lisa Faulkner from Co Antrim, and their three children aged four, one-and-a-half, and three months. The family were travelling home after a birthday celebration. Disaster struck at 9.30am as the family's car veered off the road into a field, flipping over and landing on its roof. Laura, who was in the front passenger seat, was terrified as her family could not get out of the car as its doors were jammed between an embankment and a barbed wire-fence. As she climbed into the back to help her children, who were screaming with fear, Laura was terrified that the car's engine would explode. Moments later as the parents lay helpless in the car with their children screaming, help arrived. Fortunately for the trapped family, the next car to come around the bend was driven by Pte Lee Mc Fadden, who, along with three colleagues, Ptes Stephen Healy, Conor Doherty and David Leech, who were returning from range training. The four privates, trained to expect the unexpected, quickly and calmly set about dealing with the situation and immediately provided aid to the trapped family. Pte Healy, who is a trained military first responder (MFR), said later: "As soldiers we are trained for such situations and it all went very smoothly. We kept talking to each other and talking with the family. They were frightened but we tried to put them at their ease. It wasn't long before we had them out and thankfully there were no real injuries, apart from the shock." Soon after the family were rescued from the car, two ambulances arrived on the scene and took them to Letterkenny General Hospital where they were medically assessed before being released later that evening. Lisa Faulkner later said they simply cannot thank the soldiers enough. "They went above and beyond the call of duty," she said, "and they are a credit to their families and to the Irish Army." Many thanks to Lt Enda Caldwell (28 Inf bn) for his help with this piece. by SGT WAyNE FITZGERALD PHOTOS CPL NEVILLE COUGHLAN AND AS CREDITED DONEgAL SOLDIERS' HEROIC ACTIONS pte Stephen healy (13 years' service) from derry, overseas service: 92 & 95 inf bn (liberia), 97 &100 inf bn (Car/Chad) and 107 inf bn (lebanon). "When I saw the car upside down, the first thing I thought of was the MFR course, but thankfully I didn't need those skills as although everyone was in shock, otherwise they were OK. We had to get a door open first as the car was jammed against a fence with barbed wire. We got the children out first, then the parents and got everyone as far away as possible as there was a strong smell of petrol." pte Conor doherty (7 .5 years' service) from donegal, overseas service: 97 inf bn (Car/Chad). "I saw the car going off the road. When our car stopped we all ran down to the crashed car. Pte Healy and I managed to get the doors open by jumping on the barbed- wire fence that was jamming them. The mother passed me the children and I passed them on to the other lads. I helped the mother out and we walked the family away and stayed with them until we weren't needed anymore." pte david leech (10 years' service) from letterkenny, overseas service: 93 & 96 inf bn (liberia) and 97 inf bn (Car/ Chad). "It was early morning and driving by you couldn't tell if there were people inside. Very often drivers will pass by an abandoned car in a field thinking people have got out and sim- ply pass on. It's a lesson to us all that you should check cars in similar situ- ations because you never know when they have left the road. We were just in the right place at the right time - it's as simple as that. We were happy we could help." pte lee mc Fadden (7.5 years' service) from donegal, overseas service: 97 inf bn (Car/Chad). "I was driving the car that morn- ing when the car in front went off the road. We just kept calm and worked as a team, like we are trained to do from basic training up". The Faulkner family. Photo: NW Newspix/Donegal Daily The dangerous corner near Ballybofey. Photo: NW Newspix/Donegal Daily L/R: Ptes David Leech, Connor Doherty, Lee Mc Fadden and Stephen Healy.

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