Pals rally around family of tragic five-year-old boy Ben Duffy from Mayo to raise thousands

Pals of the heartbroken parents of a five-year-old boy who drowned, have raised over €8,000 for the distraught family.

Little Ben Duffy was playing on a small inflatable on Lough Mask on Monday when it drifted from the shore and he fell into the water.

The boy’s body was found by search and rescue crews on Tuesday morning on the northwestern section of the Co Mayo lake.

Family friends Mandy Bateman, Jo Finn, Claire Hannon and Anne Compton set up the fundraiser and said they wanted to raise some money to support the family during their grief.

A GoFundMe page has received more than 300 donations, totalling €8,000.

Ben was the youngest of five children and a junior infants pupil at the local Scoil Naisiunta Tuar Mhic Eadaigh Gaelscoil.

A spokeswoman for the fundraising drive said: “Friends of the family of Ben Duffy, who tragically drowned in Lough Mask on Monday evening, have set up this campaign to support the family during this terrible time.

“The young boy had been playing with his siblings in a shallow area of the lake, when a sudden wind caused the dinghy he was on to drift.”

Corrib Mask Search and Rescue Unit was one of the agencies on the water searching for Ben three days ago.

The scene of the rescue operation on the shore of Lough Mask, Co Mayo (Paul Mealey)

The crew arrived on Lough Mask within twelve minutes of receiving the call and yesterday sympathised with the Duffy family.

Niall O’Meachair, the area director of units for the Connemara Area, said: “This is an unspeakable tragedy for the family and the local community. Unfortunately, we deal with events like this every year and it never gets easier.

“There is a family that’s torn apart and we are heartbroken for their loss, and offer them our sincere condolences.”

A rescue helicopter searches for a missing child at Lough Mask, Toormakeady, Co Mayo (Paul Mealey)

Mr O’Meachair said they worked up until it got dark on Monday night and they ended the initial search at about 11pm.

He added: “From half four the next morning we were back with our crew on the water.

“We briefed the divers, the local volunteers, the professionals and the other agencies and thanks to the work of everybody involved the child’s body was recovered within a short period of time.”