Irish J1 student passes away after swimming accident in the US

Philip Leahy, a J1 student from Ballyhooly, North Cork, has died following a swimming accident in the US last week.

The 22-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest after getting into difficulty while swimming on Wednesday and had since been on life support at a local hospital.

However, he tragically passed away at around 10pm last night, with his family by his side.

Philip had been taking an early morning dip with friends in Ocean City, Maryland, when the group began to struggle in the strong currents.

Those close to Philip had set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for his medical treatment.

Over €90,000 has been raised by the time news of Philip's passing had emerged.

Philip was an active member of the local community and even captained the GAA football team to a county junior B championship, just last year.

200 people attended a vigil at the GAA club on Thursday night.