Council to assess danger after boy almost drowns

Cavan County Council has confirmed that it is to assess the risks posed to the public by the river running through Con Smith Park in Cavan Town. The move comes after a six-year-old boy, who fell into the river, was saved from drowning there a few weeks ago by a brave council worker.

Michal Sobczak was playing near the water in the park with his mother Daria when disaster struck, though lucky for the Sobczaks, David Giland was on hand to save the day.
David told the Celt that he was just going into the park to pick litter and was just behind Daria and Michal.
He saw Michal at the river bank with a stick. “I went over to the woman and said 'watch out, he is going to fall’. The next thing, he went straight into the river,” recalled David. He tried to grab Michal by the hood of his coat but it slipped out of his grasp. David, who is used to swimming at Killykeen, jumped into the muddy river.
“Only I managed to grab him, he would have went down,” said David.
He then brought Michal back to the bank. He was shivering and he put a jacket on him to keep him warm.
The Celt went with David to the Sobczaks’ home this week to see how Michal and Daria were recovering following the ordeal. Little Michal is in senior infants at St Clare’s School in Cavan Town and lives with his mother Daria and father Przemek at Ardkeen, Cavan, and they originally come from Warsaw in Poland.
“When my child was in the water, I was shocked and did not know what to do. I had just spoken to David as I was walking into the park and he had said 'be careful or he will be in the water’. Suddenly when I looked around he was in the water,” Daria recalled of the incident.

Hero
She thanked David and hailed him a hero. “I would like to thank you very much for saving my child. I was too shocked to do anything. I thank you for your quick reaction. I was in the Church and I prayed a decade of the rosary for you and I lit a candle for you David. Thanks to God you were there,” she said.
Little Michal himself said: Thank you very much David for pulling me out of the river.”
He told the Celt that he slipped into the river and was scared as he can only swim “a little bit”.
Daria and her son got a taxi home as soon as possible after the ordeal as little Michal was shivering and was in shock. She took the advice of hero David and gave her son a very hot bath and some hot raspberry tea with lemon.
David said he appreciated the kind remarks of thanks from Daria and Michal and he wished the family the best of luck for the future.
He has worked with Cavan Town Council and now with Cavan County Council for the past 35 years. “I worked on the bin lorries for years and I also worked on the roads and now I am gathering litter around the streets of Cavan Town. I’m trying to keep Cavan Town Tidy,” said David.
Daria said that she will bring her son back to the park again but she will be holding on to him on the next occasion.