Shaun Haughey who helped rescue two other individuals from sea

A RELUCTANT hero spoke last night of how he rescued two teenagers from a lough after an 'ice bucket challenge' went wrong.

The youths had jumped off a pier into Lough Swilly in Co Donegal. Eye-witnesses said the duo had been part of a larger group who had been teasing each other over doing a 'real' ice bucket challenge by jumping into the water off the pier at Rathmullan.

Shaun Haughey (21), from Drumkeen near Letterkenny, had been fishing off the pier when the teenagers began to disappear under the water.

During the next eight terrifying minutes, the two youths fought for their lives.

"Their heads kept going under the water," said Shaun who works for MediSize in Letterkenny.

"They were swallowing a lotboys were lifted out of the water and on to a boat and taken ashore.

However, they ran off after their ordeal on Sunday night.

"We don't even know who they were or where they were from," said Johnny.

"But they're lucky to be alive."

In July 2011, Sean McNair, (17), from Derry, drowned after getting into difficulty at the same pier.

Irish Independent