DAVITT Walsh, the man who risked his own life to rescue four-month-old baby Rioghnach-Ann McGrotty in the Buncrana pier tragedy, has said he does not feel like a hero.
Rioghnach-Ann's father Sean McGrotty (49), brothers Mark (12) and Evan (8), aunt Jodie-Lee Daniels (14) and grandmother Ruth Daniels (57) all died when their car slid on algae from Buncrana pier into Lough Swilly on Sunday March 20.
Louise James, the mother of Rioghnach-Ann, Mark and Evan, met Mr Walsh at the parochial house of Holy Family Parish in Derry just days after the tragedy to thank him for what he did.
Mr Walsh, who said he had been receiving counselling in the wake of the traumatic events, said: "I've kind of realised now that there was nothing more that I could have done but initially I couldn't stop thinking about how I could have done more for the family and that's why I was so afraid of meeting Louise.
"I'm not doing too bad now because I'm coming to terms with things a bit now and I think the counselling has helped me a lot.
"It's been difficult, though. Monday will be my first day back to work which I'm looking forward to," he told Sunday Life.
Ms James told Mr Walsh, who was treated for shock and cuts to his feet following the rescue, she would be forever grateful to him for saving her daughter's life.
Mr Walsh (29), from Kerrykeel in Co Donegal, said that "in all honesty I don't feel like a hero at all."
"I don't feel any different than I did before because I just did what I had to do and I only wished at the time I could have done more."
Along with his girlfriend Stephanie, a radiographer at Altnagelvin Hospital, he has been spending the weekend back in Co Donegal, at Rossnowlagh.
Mr Walsh said: "That Audi Q7 car is massive so when it went down it was sucking me under with it because I was more or less on top of it and I could feel it pulling me under.
The former Derry City footballer added: "I was pedalling and kicking my legs as hard as I could while trying to keep hold of the baby so my head was bobbing up and down while I tried to stop us from being sucked under."
He also praised his girlfriend for taking the baby from him and getting her changed.
Mr Walsh said: "It wouldn't have mattered about all the hard work I'd done if Steph hadn't been there because she knew exactly what to do.
"If she'd have left those clothes on for another five minutes that baby could have died and that's crazy."
The pair have received messages of support from across the world.
Mr Davitt said: "I still can't believe people have taken the time to do that."
