Armagh man Patrick Fearon 'died a hero' in Lagan incident
- Published
Patrick Fearon died on Friday morning
The funeral of a young man who died after attempting to rescue another person from the River Lagan has taken place in County Armagh.
The congregation at St Patrick's Cathedral heard that Patrick "Paddy" Fearon had "died a hero".
The 30-year-old had recently moved to Belfast for a data analyst job in the health service.
Police said a man died in the early hours of Friday morning after entering the water at Lagan Weir in Belfast.
It has been reported that Mr Fearon threw a life ring into the water before entering to make sure the other person could reach it.
A woman was rescued from the river and taken to hospital for treatment.
Writing on Twitter, Mr Fearon's mother Linda expressed her grief over the death of her "beautiful, kind [and] loving" son.
'Taught us all a lesson'
St Patrick's heard that Mr Fearon was a caring, brave person with a great sense of humour.
He had previously rescued his sister, Eisha, and their pets from a house fire when he was aged 14.
Fr Emmanuel Fasakin said Mr Fearon's life of "active action" demonstrated his true love for those around him.
"He was never afraid to express his love for any of his friends and can go to any lengths to express that love and to act it out," he said.
Fr Fasakin added that Patrick "died a hero saving a life" and had "taught us all a lesson".