Tragic father dies in river where his son drowned seven years ago

Tragedy has once again struck the Colhoun family of Donegal family after father Joe Colhoun followed his son David in drowning in the same river.

A tragic father has drowned in the same river in which his son died seven years ago.

Donegal man Joe ‘Ruby’ Colhoun died a day after being found in the River Foyle river where his son David drowned in April 2011.

David Colhoun died trying to swim across the river which partially forms a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

David Colhoun

His father spent 10 months seeking his son’s body with the aid of teams from both sides of the border. When his body was found he expressed deep relief.

“Now we can put David’s soul to rest once and for all. I could not have rested or stopped searching until I found him.

“I no longer have to go down to that river every day looking and knowing he is in there.

“He is safe again now. He will be beside his mother forever and I can take some peace in that for the rest of my own days.”

He said: “This is all I have been looking for all these months. Our lives have been hell.”

Tragically, he never recovered from losing his son. Joe was found in the River Foyle where he had kept his daily vigil for years for his son last Friday and passed away the following day.