A teenage boy described yesterday his brave attempt to rescue a friend swept into the Irish Sea from a pier in Co Down. As the coastguard called off the search for 14-year-old Jordan Murdoch, David Hackett relived the battle to save him.
The boys were playing on a pier at Killough harbour when waves lashing the coastal village pulled Jordan in. David (13), said: "He slipped and I jumped in after and then held onto his hand. Then the waves broke us apart and he went the other way and I went to the rocks.
"He went out and the current took him under, that's the last I saw of him."
Despite a major air and sea search for Jordan, rescuers were forced to admit defeat last night.
A spokesman for the coastguard said: "We have searched the entire area thoroughly several times using various means and nothing has been found. It's been too long now; all hope is gone."
David was pulled to safety soon after the alert began on Sunday and was taken to hospital for treatment for shock and the effects of the cold water.
He later returned to the scene of the search to watch three lifeboats and a coastguard helicopter from Dublin work with police divers, a mountain rescue squad and five land-based coastguard teams. Friends and neighbours also combed the waters in fishing boats.
Jordan had just moved to the Co Down coast from the Markets area of Belfast with his parents Kerry and Paul, who watched in anguish as crews hunted for their son.
Jordan's grandfather, Mr Dessie McGeown, described how he and the teenager's mother watched from the quayside as he struggled in the water. He said: "We saw two hands come up, and we started shouting 'hold on Jordan'.
"Everyone on the bank was shouting 'hold on Jordan, there's somebody coming', but that was the last we saw of him."
A cap and jacket recovered last night before the search was called off due to bad weather was identified by his family as belonging to the missing boy.
The coastguards plan to return to the area in a bid to recover the body. - (PA)