‘I hope that nobody ever needs to use Mallow Search and Rescue ever again, but the harsh reality is that people will’
19:45, 16 Dec 2025Updated 20:29, 16 Dec 2025
Cormac Ryan and Kate Colbert
A Cork woman is taking on a gruelling swim challenge to raise money for the ‘heroes’ who searched the Lee night and day to recover her best friend’s body.
Kate Colbert from Midleton is gunning to raise at least €5k for the amazing Mallow Search and Rescue (MSAR) group heading into the New Year. The main goals of her campaign are to raise awareness of this incredible charity, and to help repay them for their amazing support after her childhood friend Cormac Ryan lost his life in the River Lee in 2020. He had been out on a first date on the night of Sunday 9th February that year, and was last seen in the Douglas Street area of Cork city before he slipped and fell into the water.
Kate says she’ll “never forget” the lengthy four-day search for her best friend, who she said was “like a brother to her” growing up. Through it all, however, MSAR were there to comfort her and Cormac’s loved ones as they searched tirelessly to bring him home. She remembers her friend as a “very popular guy” who would “capture a room” as soon as he entered it. She told Cork Beo: “He had friends in all corners of the world, and lots of them flew home to help with the search.
“I knew there was something up when his phone wouldn’t answer. One thing I did know was he would always be onto people asking for a charger whenever his phone was low battery, so I knew something was wrong if his phone wasn’t on. We all went up to the city to look for him, we had a kind of a strategy where we would have people spread out throughout the city to cover everywhere. Of course we all had to go home at some point, but I don’t ever remember Mallow Search and Rescue ever going home.”
Cormac Ryan – RIP
Kate recalls the day MSAR first joined the search, and when she realised Gardaà had concluded Cormac wasn’t on land and was likely in the river. Their volunteers combed the waters along the quays for hours on end, and Kate said she “couldn’t take her eyes off them.” She said: “Around one point, it was nearing night, and I remember thinking they’re going to want to come out and go home. I was dreading them saying, ‘Alright, we’ll call it for the day and go again in the morning.’
“And then I remember one of them coming over, I can’t remember who, and he grabbed my hand and said: ‘Kate, we will not stop looking until we bring him home.’ Every time I tell that story it takes my breath away, and it did at that time too. It’s like he read my mind. These were volunteers, not getting paid by the government or anything, who were out searching at the bottom of the Lee at night. They’re like angels.
“How they find people then is they literally have to bump into them. This guy literally bumped into Cormac when they found him… I’ve read news articles before about tragic stories and thought: ‘Oh that’s awful, that’ll never happen to us.’ But that was us. I kept thinking how strange that was.”
Cormac was recovered from the water on Thursday 13th February. Kate said MSAR handled his recovery “seamlessly and professionally” as his body was taken on board their boat and carried away without anyone seeing him. His funeral was held in Midleton on Wednesday 19th February.
The night before, his family had prayers at their home in Saleen, during which nine members of MSAR came to pay their respects, which Cormac’s father Brendan said was “very moving.” He previously opened up on the charity’s amazing work during the search for his son – giving the family much-needed closure after what Brendan described as “the worst four days of my life.”
Cormac ‘Chorm’ Ryan – RIP(Image: RIP.ie)
He added: “It’s a funny thing to say, but you have no idea of the relief that we felt when we heard that Cormac had been found. Because if we hadn’t gotten him home, I don’t know what I would have done. And I don’t know how anybody could deal with that… In a way, we’re the lucky ones.
“Even though he was gone, they had found him and he was somewhere we could come and visit. And for that, I will be eternally grateful to Mallow Search and Rescue, Philip and John and all the lads. And people must realise this is totally and absolutely a voluntary group. They don’t receive one red cent from the state, which I think is a crying shame,” he told Paul Byrne on Cork’s 96fm Opinion Line.
Kate says she’ll never forget everything the MSAR team did for them went Cormac went missing. Their charity relies heavily on public donations to keep their amazing services up and running. To support them heading into the New Year, Kate’s taking on a gruelling challenge to swim 169 kilometres in 56 days, which she’s doing in the pool at the Garryvoe Hotel, five days a week. So far, she has raised almost €3k – but wants to bring in as much as possible to ensure MSAR are well-resourced heading into the New Year.
She said: “I hope that nobody ever has to use Mallow Search and Rescue ever again, but the harsh reality is that people will. I realise that people are under pressure financially at the moment, but my main goal is to at least raise awarness of this team and the incredible work they do.”
You can donate to support Kate’s campaign – and MSAR – online here.