Gradually, though, she began to gain on the young woman, and as the current carried them underneath the bridge together and out to the other side, she was able to snatch at her hand. The young woman tugged at her desperately, her eyes wide with fear. She was panicking so much that she pulled them both under the water, kicking and flailing her arms, and Kyna heard her let out a gargling sound.

As they surfaced again, Kyna wrestled with all her strength to turn the young woman around, so that she was floating on her back. She was still kicking her legs and splashing with her arms and so Kyna gasped, ‘Still! Keep still!’ She wanted to say more but she had swallowed too much icy water and she was already out of breath.

The lifebelt was now within reach, so Kyna caught hold of it and pulled it towards them. The young woman grabbed hold of it, too, and its buoyancy calmed her down, because she stopped struggling so frantically and allowed Kyna to tilt her head back against her shoulder.

With one arm around the young woman, Kyna began to swim backwards towards the embankment. It seemed to take forever, because the current was so strong, and she began to think that she wouldn’t have the strength to make it. Her swimming arm was aching and her hands were so cold that she felt as if they had been amputated. She closed her eyes and thought, Help me, dear God. Don’t let me die like this, in this filthy freezing river, with only the grey mullet to mourn me.

She began to think that she was dreaming. She could hear nothing but her own breathing and the lapping of the water against her face, and she imagined that even if she didn’t drown she would have to go on paddling like this for the rest of her life, trying to reach an embankment that never came any closer.

But then she heard sirens, and when she turned her head around she saw blue flashing lights. A crowd of people had gathered along the quayside, and after only a few seconds three firefighters pushed their way through them and climbed over the railings.

‘Don’t you worry, girl, we’re coming for you!’ one of the firefighters shouted. The three of them lowered themselves on ropes down the mossy limestone wall, and then held out their hands, ready to help her out of the water.

She could also see that the young woman’s terrier had managed to reach the embankment. Another firefighter had abseiled down to pluck him out of the river, and now she was holding him up, dripping and bedraggled, so that she could hand him to a garda who was leaning over the railings.