The entrepreneur behind the Juice Jar chain has talked for the first time about the tragic incident for which he was awarded the George Cross for extraordinary bravery.
Sam Shephard, who has a chain of six juice bar outlets throughout Northern Ireland and England and is opening his seventh venue on Dublin’s Dawson Street next month, previously served in the Royal Marines with tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But it was during diving training in Egypt in 2013 when he demonstrated the bravery which earned him the highest award in the UK honours system for non-combat situations.
An award so rare that there are only 12 living people with the honour.
Speaking to Trading Up, the business podcast from the Irish News presented by Jim Fitzpatrick, he opened up about the day he tried to rescue a friend and colleague who had sunk under the water while snorkelling.
Shephard took charge of the situation and instructed his colleagues to prepare for an emergency evacuation. He initially attempted to rescue his friend, Damian Day Moran, without any equipment but his colleague had sunk too deep underwater.
A senior dive instructor judged it too dangerous to mount a rescue but Shephard disregarded the instructor’s advice, took his equipment and attempted his own rescue.
Shephard recalls how he “had to wrestle the diving scuba gear equipment off one of the instructors there,” and then go deeper underwater than any training had prepared him for as he sought to rescue his friend.
He was diving to the very edge of accepted limits with a significant risk of decompression sickness, paralysis or even death. Shephard found Moran at the bottom of the sea, suspended upside down on a reef. His dive watch recorded a depth of over 60 metres.
“I do remember vividly diving down into the darkness at 60 metres of depth. There’s no light. (I was) not really sure where I was going. You know, I don’t know how I’m going to find this guy.
“But luckily I just came upon Day’s body in the depths. I tried to do what they call a rescue breath and could feel warm blood over my own face and and knew then that things weren’t going to end well that day”.
Day Moran had suffered an embolism and was ultimately beyond saving. But Shephard still thought there might be a chance.
He fought to free his friend from the reef and somehow managed to carry his limp body back to the surface. It didn’t end there, as Shephard describes the operation getting his friend evacuated from the beach.
“Unfortunately, we had to evacuate Day’s body across about 100 meters of coral reef and in bare feet and then into the back of a pickup truck to try and get to the hospital in time, but it was too little too late.
“This was a very close friend and a colleague and someone who I wanted to do as much, you know, to save his life as possible. And in the end, that wasn’t possible.
“But I think both Damian’s parents were obviously very pleased that I was able to bring the body back to the surface and ultimately give them some closure on what was a pretty horrific day,” he said.
This event had a profound impact on Shephard. He says that he thinks of the incident every day.
Though the recognition has also opened doors for him, allowing him to “meet incredible people”, and attend events like Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.
He also outlines in Trading Up how the event has helped shape him and give him perspective, so that the difficulties of the business world pale in comparison to the events he has experienced.
“I think a strong view of mine has always been to live every day as if it’s your last. You know, try to make the best of what you have. We don’t know when that day is coming. I always joke with people that, you know, we’re all dying. It’s just a question of when.
So, make the most of what you’ve got. And when darkness does come on to your doorstep, you can maybe be a bit better prepared to to deal with it, however it takes, whatever form it comes in.”