Mother of Cork man swept away in river – ‘It was like a circus, watching my baby son drown'
"I don't think I can get through this,' said Luke's mother Elizabeth, who called into the Neil Prendeville Show on Cork's RedFM to express her disgust at the passers-by who decided to film the incident, 'this is my second son in five years, and both of them who lived with me.
"The first boy died suddenly, in his sleep, it was something to do with his heart.
"Luke, my baby, he was my baby son. I was disgusted when I heard you talking this morning about those people down there. It was like a circus, watching my son drown, instead of trying to help him.
"I don't know do these people know the heartache and the suffering that me and his family are going through today, and I don't even know if I can come through this.
"What have people in this world come to? Morons, I don't think there's even a word to describe them.'
"It will never leave me, and the clips I saw on the news...I don't know how I'll ever, ever forget it. I never will, it will live with me for evermore.
"Whether those people know it or not, I would like to let them know, that I'm his mother, I'm 76 years old, he's my baby son, he's 34-years-old. I haven't slept since Wednesday, I couldn't go to bed last night and my whole body is trembling.'
Yesterday, Second Fire Officer with Cork City Fire Brigade said the public's reaction to the incident was the worst he'd seen in 44 years on the job, and pleaded with the public not to share videos of the incident, which took place in the middle of the city on the hottest day of the year thus far.
"Even if he brought a t-shirt or a pair of shoes he'd report it to me,' Elizabeth Hyde told the Neil Prendeville show. 'He was the most placid, beautiful young fella that God ever put on this earth.
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"He had a little problem with alcohol, he had fought hard to do his best with that. He was after starting a job last week in Tesco's, the Express store on the Douglas Road. He said to me 'Mam, I'll sort my life out now, I'm getting my life back together...I'm going to make it.'
Pensioner Elizabeth explained how she had first heard the news of her son's passing, from her house on Shandon Street.
"I was watching the television, and the next thing I heard the helicopter. I knew when a helicopter's going up and down the river they're looking for someone. I said to myself 'God help us, whoever they're looking for I hope they find the person'.
"Little did I know that it was my son they were looking for.
"I rang his phone, and he'd usually pick up his phone. I was wondering where he was but I thought he was at work, I didn't realise he had the day off.
"I rang again and a strange voice came on. They said 'who's this?', I said 'who are you? I'm looking for Luke', they said 'what's your name?' I said 'Elizabeth Hyde, I'm Luke's mam', and then he told me he was a Guard. It was a guard answering his phone, that was it.
"I ran out onto the street with no shoes and no apron and no coat. I ran down to that river but it was too late, they were putting him into the ambulance. And when I saw the crowds I just knew what was going on.
'I only got as far as where they sit down by the Quay Wall and I was stopped by my son who said 'Mam, you don't want to see him at all', but I told him 'I need to see him, I need to see my son' Elizabeth said in an emotional phone call to the show.
"I don't know what his last thoughts were when he was drowning. I was thinking did he call me?
"Did he call my name?'
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