Omagh man will use equipment to help find missing persons

IN just over 24 hours, a local man has raised a staggering £5,500 to purchase a thermal drone that he believes has capacity to save lives in local search and rescue mission in the years to come.

Chris Colton, a 32-year-old drone pilot from Omagh, was called to aid in two search and rescue missions in the last six weeks. One of these was for 15-year-old Matthew McCallan – the late Dungannon boy whose body was found on the outskirts of Fintona last Monday.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Chris started a Crowdfunder page in an effort to raise the £5,500 necessary to purchase a drone with thermal capabilities. Little over a day later, the sum had been reached.

Come the new year, Chris will be volunteering his services to any local family who require his help looking for a loved one.

“I could not believe it,” began Chris, who is the owner of See See – a business based in the Gortrush Industrial Estate which offers a number of services to help businesses grow and prosper in the digital age.

“People were donating £50 here, £100 there, somebody actually put £250 towards the fund. In just 25 hours, the total had been reached,” said Chris.

But the donations kept coming in.

“The fund now sits at over £6,500, and all the money above that needed to purchase the drone is going to be given to Matthew’s family.”

On the assistance that a thermal drone could make during a search and rescue mission, Chris said, “it could be the difference between life and death.”

“With a thermal drone in the sky, air to ground visibility becomes much less of an issue. Darkness and obscuring fog become far less of an impediment to identifying people on the ground,” he said.

“Essentially, if somebody is still living the drone will detect their natural body heat and they will be easily visible. And, even if it becomes a body retrieval situation, the outline of a body would be much easier to see with the use of a thermal drone,” added Chris.

The former Sacred Heart College student said that when he became a qualified drone operator in 2019, he did so primarily to expand the services he could offer his customers.

But, following the tragic events of the last few weeks, Chris has realised that his drone has an application far beyond the business of recreation.

With his new piece of kit, Chris now has the capacity to detect missing persons even in the darkest night. He is offering his services free of charge.

If you or someone you know needs his help you can contact Chris on his business Whatsapp on 02882303681. Alternatively, you can email him at chris@seesee.ie