Pádraig Healy for the first time will take part in the 4k Helvick swim in memory of his dear neighbour Cian Nugent from An Sean Phobal.

Cian tragically drowned in April 2023 leaving his family, friends and community devastated.

Cian was 21 years of age and had just 5 weeks before celebrated his birthday. He was studying Civil Engineering at University College Cork and was in third year.

He loved music of all genres and was a regular at all the gigs around Cork. He had many friends and had truly found his tribe. He loved vintage clothes and had developed a style of his own. At 6ft 7 and a mop of curly hair, he was well known around the student scene in Cork.

On the 28th of April he went sea swimming with five friends to celebrate end of lectures before exams and the start of the warm weather. Three of them got caught in a riptide. One a very strong swimmer managed to get to shore, one was saved by the RNLI, but Cian was already passed away.

Cian's family strive to keep his memory alive through their water safety campaigns and acknowledging the incredible work of the RNLI.

The key messages that Cian's family would like to share:

- If you are swimming with friends, have the chat- who is a strong swimmer, who’s not.

- A quiet beach is not the best. There’s no one to help if you run into trouble.

- If you get caught in a riptide swim parallel to the shore not toward the shore. It’s less strenuous.

- Remember the sea is a natural phenomenon, it can change any moment. His friends said that day, the sand was under our feet and then it wasn’t.

Join us on Helvick pier on July 6th to remember Cian and support our valuable RNLI service.

Pádraig would like to thank Cian's parents Paul and Naoive as well as his brother's Jamie and Oisín for allowing him participate in his memory.