A Belfast woman whose partner collapsed during a day out in Donegal says she is indebted to those who rushed to his rescue.

Mary O’Connor and Bobby Hughes were spending two nights in Letterkenny recently when they decided to head off to Rathmullan beach. But within moments of walking on to the sand Bobby, a type one diabetic, slumped into a coma.

Luckily several members of the public spotted the emergency and rushed to his aid. They managed to revive him before an ambulance transported him to Letterkenny hospital.

Mary told the Donegal News she wanted to thank everyone who assisted during the terrifying episode.

“As a type one diabetic Bobby has to take insulin a couple of times per day.

“His bloods were fine that morning so we had our breakfast and decided that we would head out to Rathmullan.

“It was about 11am and we had just got on to the beach and set our towels down. Then about ten minutes later Bobby fell like a sack of potatoes.”

First on the scene were two women from Derry, one of whom was also a type one and knew what to do.

“I knew straightaway myself what it was and we always carry a bottle of glucogel which raises blood glucose really quickly,” said Mary.

“But because Bobby was completely out we couldn’t get his mouth open to give it to him. All we could do was rub it into his gums in the hope that it would work.”

Also on the scene by this stage was a nurse called Emma and two lifeguards who called an ambulance.

“Emma was brilliant and helped me get the glucogel into him when he wasn’t responding.

“The operator on the phone to the lifeguard was saying to lay him down so one of the girls from Derry grabbed a towel. She told Bobby ‘I don’t know what team you support but you’re getting a Celtic towel’. It was really funny and brought a lovely bit of levity to the situation.”

When the ambulance arrived shock began to kick in. So much so that the ambulance driver instructed Mary not to drive.

“The two ambulance men were fantastic but when they saw me and the state I was in, they said they didn’t want me driving. So Liam McAteer, his mum runs a bar in Rathmullan, he rushed to help and volunteered to bring me to the hospital.

“With Covid I wasn’t allowed into the hospital and they said it could be a couple of hours. Liam waited with me for half an hour before driving me back to get my own car.”

Bobby made a full recovery and was discharged around 6.30pm.

“I am so so grateful to everyone. In the fog of panic you don’t get names and I just want to say thank you to all the kind people who helped us. It’s nice to know that with all the bad news we get, there are still some good news stories out there.”

Mary said that by telling her story, it might also alert people to what to do in the event of a ‘hypo’ – where a diabetic’s blood sugar drops too low.

“People might think someone is drunk but time is of the essence,” she added.