4 American Brothers at the Beach Rescue 6-Year-Old Swept Out to Sea Off Irish Coast

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Four American brothers who were in Ireland for their grandfather’s funeral became heroes after saving a 6-year-old girl from drowning at a beach.

Walter, 21, twins Declan and Eoghan Butler, 18, and their brother-in-law Alex Thomson, 24, were making the most of the picturesque Dublin shoreline on a sunny July 22 in 2019. All was well until approximately 2:20 p.m., when the brothers, from Virginia, heard a man yelling frantically for the attention of the lifeguard.

His daughter had been swept out to sea.

Speaking to WUSA, Walter recalled, “We could hear her screaming, shouting as well, on the floatie. It was definitely a scream of terror,” he said, “as the wind, and I assume the current, was taking her out to sea.”

The 6-year-old, Sienna, had been separated from her father; neither of them knew how to swim. “Our initial reactions were just pure instinct,” Eoghan later told the Irish Mirror, “just to jump in the water and go for it.”

Quickly spotting Sienna’s pink flamingo-shaped inflatable, the brothers did exactly that. Walter, a health services technician for the United States Coast Guard, kept watch from the shoreline while the remaining three brothers took to the water.

“Looking back there was no lifeguard [and] no EMS, so I headed back to shore so I would be in the best shape if need be,” Walter later explained, “because these guys certainly would’ve been tired by then.”

According to the Irish Times, Sienna had been swept out to sea so rapidly that it took the swimmers almost 20 minutes to retrieve her. The brave brothers in the water spoke to the terrified 6-year-old to keep her calm, also making them better able to keep her head above water.

“Me and Declan, we had gone up to her first and [Declan] grabbed her,” Eoghan recalled. “It was just us three taking turns and carrying her on our backs, and then flipping her over on our stomachs, just trying to get her to shore.”

Walter saw the hardworking trio tiring as they approached the shore and waded in to assist. The trained first-aider said Sienna was cold but conscious when they finally got her ashore.

“Eoghan and Declan actually brought the dad into shore, as well,” Walter later told The Washington Post.

The brothers were keen to follow up on the child’s recovery. “Hopefully they’ll reach out or there’ll be a way we can communicate,” Walter said. “[We’d like to] check on her and make sure there’s nothing we missed.”

“We just want to see if they’re doing okay,” Alex added.

Sienna’s father, who preferred to remain anonymous, offered heartfelt thanks to the brothers for their quick-thinking actions. “They were so brave,” he told the Irish Times. “They should get an award.

“My daughter was taken to hospital but she is safe and well at home now. I’d really like to thank those men; only for them, my daughter wouldn’t be here today.”

Attesting to the serendipity of the brothers’ presence on the beach that day, the Butlers’ mother, Meagan Cummings, shared an ironic coincidence:

Cummings was at home in Arlington, Virginia, when she received the news that her sons had helped save a child’s life. She knew her sons had become strong swimmers owing to the tragic death of their great uncle who drowned at sea when he was only 11 years old. Amazingly, the 64th anniversary of the great uncle’s death fell on the very same day as Sienna’s rescue. “It was the same day the kids saved the little girl ... wild,” Cummings said.

Sienna was happily reunited with her guardian angels the very next day, with just a couple of weeks to go before her 7th birthday. “We got to see the little girl, and see her with her family; kissing her mom and hugging her dad,” said Eoghan. “That’s probably the most rewarding part of it.”