THE body of Garryowen native Derek Murphy, 42, has been recovered from the Mississippi River following a boating accident which also claimed the life of his best friend.
Mr Murphy was a member of Garryowen’s first AIL league winning side in 1991.
According to New Orleans’ newspaper The Times Picayune he drowned along with friend and colleague James Brynaert after the two men rowed into the middle of the Mississippi River to go fishing on Saturday.
Authorities said that local Port Authority officials recovered Mr Murphy’s body on Thursday while Mr Brynaert’s body was discovered a day earlier.
The two men went fishing in their new 15-foot canoe on Saturday at 2.30pm with their two dogs.
Witnesses saw their canoe tip over and both men get swept under a barge after getting stuck in a group of moored barges.
Capt. Stephen McManus of the New Orleans Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said neither of the men wore a life jacket while on the river.
Autopsies revealed that both men had drowned.
Mr Murphy ran a local construction company which Mr Brynaert worked for as a carpenter.
Derek Murphy moved to the United States about 10 years ago with his wife Lorna who he met in 1994 in Limerick and was separated from but still close to.
Speaking to The Times Picayune newspaper Lorna Murphy said. “Derek was an amazing human being. He took James under his wing — he was his big brother, father and best friend all wrapped up into one”.
