Life rings bought for the Faughan River

Touched by recent tragedies, including the death last Spring of teenager Kyle Bonnes, Donna Crockett, a familiar face in the Drumahoe district, set about raising enough money to buy regulation flotation devices in a bid to prevent further loss of life in the river.

“There have been a few drownings in that river, and one thing I remember about the death last year of Kyle was that so many people had said if there were liferings that maybe the tragedy might have been averted. That is what spurred me on, that and knowing that one of our customers in the supermarket had tried to help the boy and had ended up needing help himself. Bad as that situation was, it could hae been so much worse.

“For that reason I decided I would try and do something. There are other people who have died in that stretch of water and I felt compelled to help prevent it, so when I did a collection I was determined that there should be something tangible to show for it rather than the money going to charity,” said Donna, who added that she was delighted when Faughan Anglers came on board, providing posts and brackets for the flotation rings.

And just last week the rope for the rings was donated by the brother of another person who entered the Faughan River and died.

“I just want to thank everybody . None of this would have been possible without the help of Faughan Anglers who donated the fixtures and fitting and offered advice, the help of local people, staff and customers at the Travellers Inn, and people from the Drumahoe, Lettershandowney, Currynierin and Tullyalley areas, who made donations,” she said.

“I am appealing to everyone using the riverbank to respect the liferings and to leave them alone. While I am hopeful that they will never need to be used, at least they are there and can be used for an emergency if it arises,” said Donna.