5 days ago
'Let's bring in Luke's Law - it should be a crime to film a tragedy'
If you missed Elizabeth Hyde's interview on Upfront with Katie Hannon, watch it back on the RTE Player.
Broadcaster Hannon is a model of composure, but she was close to tears listening to broken-hearted Elizabeth, whose son Luke drowned in the River Lee in Cork last month.
Luke, 34, died when onlookers too busy filming his death failed to come to his aid. Lifebuoys next to where he entered the water were untouched, while gawkers recorded Luke in difficulty on their phones and uploaded the scenes on social media.
That's enough for me to back Elizabeth's call for Luke's Law, which would make it a criminal offence to record such an accident and share it online.
We need such legislation if this is what the world has become.
A fireman told the family he had never seen anything like it in 44 years' service; people had to be pushed out of the way for emergency workers to reach Luke.
Elizabeth cried when she said: 'I can't get away from the vision of it. My beautiful child drowning, while they were just videoing. He could be with me here today if someone had tried.'
At the news, she ran out on the street in her bare feet, screaming: 'Someone help me, my son is dead in the river. I know he was calling out for his Mam before he died.'
Who stands by and watches someone die a preventable death, filming it for entertainment? Are they thinking about it differently now? Has it hit them in the aftermath? Or have they forgotten Luke Hyde already?
It struck deep into my heart because I know that scene. I've run in bare feet in desperation.
I grew up beside Blessington Lake, a deceptively picturesque reservoir in Co Wicklow which claims lives every year. It's a man-made lake, with currents and sudden drops.
My father witnessed drownings on it that haunted him. Before I was a teenager, I would too.
In 1989, the summer of Sixth Class, five of us went down to the Lake and only four of us came back. My cousin and schoolmate, Alan Clarke, died in front of me that day. He wasn't far out from the shore when he said: 'I'm out of my depth' and slipped under the water.
Efforts were made to save him that nearly cost another life. I remember I couldn't feel the lake's hot stones burning my soles as I ran to get help. But it was too late.
The impact was monumental. The whole town was shocked, a community in grief. His family could never be the same again. Neither were those of us with him. None of us will ever forget Alan.
Drowning is usually silent and swift. Too often, it's young lads, like the two friends Emmanuel Familola, 16, and Matt Sibana, 18, who drowned in Donegal last month; or Max O'Connor in the Grand Canal at Kildare last year.
An average of 100 people a year drowned in Ireland over the past decade. More will drown here over this summer. It's the second biggest cause of accidental death after road accidents.
It's never advisable to go into the water after someone, unless you have lifesaving skills. But you can act.
Irish Water Safety advises three actions, Shout, Reach, Throw. Shout to orientate the person back towards shore; reach with a stick or similar while you lie flat, and throw a ringbuoy or anything that floats.
Never reach for your phone to record it for likes and shares, a reaction devoid of humanity. I support the call for Luke's Law - make it a crime.
