TRIBUTES are being paid to a man who has given 20 years of his life to saving others.
Craig Smith has been a dedicated volunteer and is a former chairman of Foyle Search and Rescue.
Craig has decided to take a back seat from the charity after a meeting earlier tonight.
The group has thanked him for his “incredible dedication to Foyle Search and Rescue for 20 years during which time he helped to take it from strength to strength.”
Foyle Search and Rescue was set up in 1993 in response to the number of lives lost to the river Foyle.
During 2014 alone volunteers gave 10,000+ hours of unpaid service to the local community.
During this period Foyle Search and Rescue were involved in a total of 191 incidents.
Volunteers rescued 18 people from the river. Sadly they returned the bodies of 4 people to their families.
There were 74 instances where distressed people were taken away from river’s edge or bridges.
They approached a further 94 people they thought may have needed help.
In addition, volunteers carried out 1 animal rescue.
This would not have been possible without the continued generosity of both the local community and statutory agencies.
