A missing man who used his energy to save his son during a kayaking accident is set to become a father again.
Declan Reid, 34, vanished after rescuing his eight-year-old son from the River Barrow in County Kildare, Ireland, after he got into difficulty.
The youngster was pulled from the water and treated at the scene thanks to his father's heroic efforts, but Declan vanished into the river.
Searches remain ongoing two days after Sunday's distressing accident.
Declan and his son had been kayaking on the river at Ardreigh - near their old family home when they got into trouble, reports Dublin Live.
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A passing teenager raised the alarm after he spotted the dad holding the boy above the water.
Declan, who had been living in Dublin for some time, was also set to become a father again with his partner understood to be seven months pregnant.
The 34-year-old’s son was rescued and taken out of the water and treated at the scene by paramedics, but Declan disappeared without a trace.
Declan's father began his own frantic search for his son jumping into the river after hearing the news.
An extensive multi-agency search continued on Monday at the River Barrow, but there was no trace of the father.
The Garda Water Unit were at the scene working alongside uniform gardaí, the civil defence and local people who volunteered.
His son is currently being treated at Portlaoise Hospital but is expected to make a full recovery.
A Garda spokesman said yesterday: “A juvenile was rescued from the water and was treated at the scene by paramedics.
“A further person is believed to be still missing.”
Labour Councillor Aoife Breslin, the Cathaoirleach of Athy Municipal District, said: “People are very saddened.
“Particularly over COVID that whole area has been heavily walked by people and it’s a beautiful part of the town and there’s people up and down it.
“Locals are extremely shocked.
“There’s a good civil defence here around Athy and there’s quite a large number of people involved and quite a number of fishermen.
“We would be quite used to it, unfortunately people do go into the [River] Barrow and particularly down there because there’s a weir down there and it overflows a lot.
“There would be quite a lot of people who would be used of looking for bodies, but we’ve never had a tragedy like this before.
“We’ve had tragedies alright where people decided they couldn’t cope with life.”
