A family say they are indebted to a good Samaritan, who helped to save eight-week-old Annabelle from drowning in the River Liffey in Co. Kildare.

Kelly Butler brought her baby daughter, along with her 2-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, to Newbridge’s Linear Park on Monday.

As the family returned to their car, Ms Butler paused to tend to her daughter, and the buggy with her baby in it slipped down the nearby embankment and into the river.

Mrs Butler sprang immediately into action and entered the river; another woman heard her screams and helped her to bring her baby daughter to safety.

Annabelle’s father, John Butler, spoke to Kfm, and outlined this terrifying incident: “A lady came to her assistance when she heard my wife’s screams,

“Thankfully she did because my wife would have struggled to get back out of the river, she handed the baby up to her and was also able to salvage the buggy which was submerged barr the handlebars.”