Heartbreaking moment Susanna Reid gets upset on GMB Heartbreaking moment Susanna Reid gets upset on GMB Heartbreaking moment Susanna Reid gets upset on GMB Susanna Reid fights back the tears as she finds out about a hero saving a baby from a sinking car, but could not save the rest of the family The father who died alongside four members of his family in a tragic accident on an Irish pier chose to stay with them and save the life of his baby daughter, according to the heroic bystander who rescued the infant. Sean McGrotty drowned with his young sons Mark and Evan, his mother-in-law Ruth Daniels and her daughter Jodie-Lee when their car apparently slipped on algae and plunged into Buncrana harbour in County Donegal, north-west Ireland. Moments before his death, he handed his four-month-old daughter Rionaghac-Ann to Davitt Walsh, who swam out to the vehicle in a bid to help, saying 'save the baby'. Describing the moment he reached Mr McGrotty, Mr Walsh, 29, said: 'The father looked at me and he had to make a decision. 'He could have saved himself because he was out of the car but he went back into his family and I couldn't do nothing else, the car went down instantly and the whole lot of them went down, it was just so fast. I took the baby back to the shore.' In an interview with RTE, he added: 'I think the father knew that I was only going to be able to save one person and he said to me, the last thing he said, he handed her to me and he said "save the baby" and he stayed and he went back in and he stayed with his family and the car just disappeared.' Mr Walsh also came close to rescuing one of the young boys but said the child was 'pulled away'. Rionaghac-Ann has now been reunited with mother Louise James, who is thought to have been at a hen party in Liverpool when she learnt five of her family members had died in the horrific accident. Miss James, 35, yesterday returned to her family home in Derry, Northern Ireland, and was said to be in a ‘terrible state’. Parish priest Father Paddy O’Kane, who had visited her house, said: ‘They are inconsolable. Louise said to me: “I have lost everyone, except little Rionaghac-Ann”. 'She said: “Rionaghac-Ann is my reason to go on”. Words fail me to describe the depth of pain and the vastness of this tragedy.' Mr Walsh and Miss James are due to meet later today. The heroic rescuer has already been reunited in hospital with Rionaghac-Ann, who is 'healthy and well' despite her ordeal. Horrified witnesses told of a ‘harrowing and heart-rending’ scene and the piercing sound of children’s screams as the vehicle appeared to briefly float before nose-diving. Three of those in the car apparently tried to swim to safety after breaking a window and climbing out, but did not make it because of the freezing water and their heavy clothes. Relatives yesterday expressed their gratitude to Mr Walsh as they described how they were 'numbed' by what had happened. Last night the bereft family also spoke of their ‘utter devastation’. Mr McGrotty’s brother Jim described the unimaginable horror that unfolded on Sunday when they were out on a ‘family drive’ as a ‘tragic accident’. Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, Mr McGrotty said: ‘Louise is just distraught, as you can understand. She’s lost her partner Sean, her mother, her two boys and her sister. Rionaghac is only three months. ‘Our Sean was a very popular young man and he’s going to be very sorely missed, not only by his family but by his friends and the racing pigeon fraternity. He lived for his kids. ‘They just went for a day out on a family drive and they just slipped in. It was a tragic accident. The wake will be held here at this home. Poor Louise and the wee-’un are left and we have to get her through it. ‘Louise is in a terrible way, as you can imagine. This is the second tragedy to hit the family in recent months as we lost our sister to cancer and we lost our mother a couple of months before that. The family is torn apart.’ Heartbreaking moment Susanna Reid gets upset on GMB

• published: 22 Mar 2016
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