AN INQUEST has heard how a four-year-old boy shouted to tell his mother that he loved her as he was carried away by a river current in Ennis, Co Clare, last July.
At the inquest at Ennis coroner's court into the drowning of Martin McDonagh at Aughateeroe, Aisha Spruce - who jumped into the river in a bid to save him - told the court Martin was shouting "Mam, I'm sorry, I love you" before he slipped out of her hand.
The court heard for the first time of the attempts by Ms Spruce to save her young neighbour.
In her deposition, read out to the inquest, Ms Spruce said on the Sunday afternoon, she was with her brother and Martin and his siblings at the river Fergus.
Ms Spruce said: "I turned and noticed that Martin was gone. James was screaming at me to go in after Martin, as neither of them could swim. I ran down to the bank and threw my phone to Rene and told him to ring the gardaí . . .
"I could see his back and his legs were up out of the water and his head was underneath. I reached him and turned him back upright.
"He started gasping for air. I grabbed his hand and tried to bring him back up the river to where the stones were.
"The current then pulled me under because I was wearing jeans."
After Martin shouted out for his mother, Ms Spruce said: "He slipped out of my hand and then I got out of the water."
Pathologist Dr Vourneen Healy said her postmortem concluded Martin died from drowning.
County coroner Isobel O'Dea returned a verdict of accidental death and paid tribute to the efforts by Ms Spruce.
