Near Death Experiences, Part 2 (By Ocean)
The promised "next story." This one is a bit more sobering than the last (By Pool). In fact, so sobering that it was the subject of a term paper back in high school, the topic of which escapes me now. In all seriousness, I think this was a pivotal point in my life. One of many points, when I realized that I was not in control.This story, once again, involves my two old friends, Lyn(don) and Beau. By way of brief introduction, if I might brag about them a bit, Lyndon went on to attend one of the top seminaries in the country and became a Baptist minister (he also went on to compete in the national swimming championships at the college level...not bad, but don't tell him I told you about that; it might go to his head ;-). Beau dropped out of high school after 10th grade (we all love telling that part, because he is so "wicked smaht" as his wife, Jen, will testify) in order to start college early and went on to earn 5 degrees, including several advanced degrees, in everything from physics to electrical engineering to political science. In addition to being two of the smartest, most Faithful people I know, they are also two of the nicest. And on this day, they also saved a couple lives, which makes them heroes in my book. They are good people. You'll see.
Again, with the swim team, about 10 -12 of us grabbed our kick boards and headed down to the beach for some body surfing. A little fun to give us a break from all that swimming back and forth. We quickly dispersed among the waves, trying out all sorts of body surfing techniques, including my favorite, riding a wave all the way to its natural conclusion on the beach, hitting the sand at full speed and experiencing sand burn on the chin, if not tooth loss. All was going just fine until…until it wasn't. Suddenly, without warning, I realized that I was drifting off to Mainland China. And worse, every crashing wave was knocking me down and pulling me under. I pretty quickly realized that we were in a "riptide," with undertow currents. I kept my cool and started swimming parallel to shore thinking that I would eventually find the edge of the riptide and then head into shore. This is what we'd been taught. I was still in control.
Along the way, one of the younger kids, a small 12-year-old, was waving his arms around and screaming for help. He was completely panicked by the same sensation I was experiencing. Only I thought I had it all figured out, so I swam over to help him, no big deal. Only thing is, I had forgotten all I learned in lifeguard classes. #1 - Always approach from behind, and #2 - Never underestimate the power of a panicked person, regardless of their size. Small though he was, he immediately put me in a death grip, using his arms and legs to tie my own arms and legs to my body, much like a Sunday afternoon pot roast. This completely eliminated my ability to help him, or myself.
So with my arms and legs securely tied, we were both pulled under, waves crashing on top of us with no way out of the predicament unless he let go, which wasn't going to happen. We were tossed and tumbled in the waves like so much laundry in an old Maytag washing machine. The only respite was when it stopped to change spin cycles which didn't happen often. I couldn't see the others at that time, though I tried some screaming of my own in the brief moments that we came up for air. Absent any response, I resigned myself to drowning. I really did. I thought, this was it. I thought, "Gosh, what a way to go." I had so much more I wanted to do. All I could think about was how sad my parents were going to be. I figured I'd sink to the bottom of the ocean floor and never be found again. That part bothered me the most. Having passed out in the pool, I knew the actual drowning wouldn't be bad once I passed out. It would be painless. Yikes! I really did think all of those things. It's all in the term paper.
And then (you know how it ends, right?), Beau and Lyndon show up. I don't remember if they showed up together or if it was one and then the other, but the important thing was that they showed up and struggled to remove the young boy's death grip from me and then they had their own fight on their hands, both with the boy and the waves and currents. As soon as I broke free, I fought with every ounce of my being to a) get away and b) get help. When I got to shore, the coach was surprised there was trouble but he raced out to help. It took Lyndon and Beau and the coach a good 5-15 minutes (it seemed much longer) to wrestle him to shore. When they carried him in, he looked limp and lifeless. We were all petrified. They laid him on the beach and compressed some water out of his lungs. In a minute or so, he coughed out the remaining water and returned to life. Hallelujah!!
It wasn't our time to die that day afterall. More lessons learned. Thanks be to God!
And, you guessed it, that was the last time we got to swim in the ocean.
Coming up, Part 3 (By Lake) and Part 4 (By Firing Squad)
Labels: Near-Death Experiences
posted by Gwynne @ 10:59 AM
13 Comments:
No wonder you went into accounting. Your early life was way too adventurous...I also knew there was a reason I hate water. Well the swimming part of water. I like to look at it. (But I SCUBA - go figure, though it's challenging to drown while diving, not impossible, but challenging.)
Numbers must seem soothing and warm compared to that! Don't know Beau, but Lyndon (can't call him Lyn. Just can't) I can vouch for as beeing pretty cool.
Heh, that's true. At least numbers are fairly predictable. ;-)
And I can't call Lyndon by the more androgynous, "Lyn," either.
I don't think I had heard that story. Wow, Gwynne.
And...firing squad? I'm intrigued.
That's because Beau is humble that way. =) He may also remember the facts differently, but this is my memory and it's pretty indelibly etched.
As for Part 4, well, you'll just have to wait. ;-)
Ooh! I could go for a story about catfish with tastes for human flesh! Have any of those, Gwynne? :)
Maybe Lake is a person and we're finished with nearly drowning. Maybe?
Thanks, Eric! I'll take that as a compliment. Coming from the master story teller, I'm flattered. :-)
And all y'all scuba divers are CRAZY! Diving so deep as to have to regulate my own air on the way back up or face the serious and painful consequences is something I'd rather not risk. And all that equipment weight! And real sharks! I'll stick to snorkeling. The worst that can happen there is getting eaten by man-eating catfish.
Sorry, Beth, none of those stories up my sleeve. ;-) But we're nearly finished with drowning stories.
See, I avoid the whole shark thing (or have to date) by only having managed to go freshwater diving. Now, I have run into a catfish, that I kid you not, was five feet long. He was rescued from a stream and brought to the grotto where we were diving (in FL). HUGE, man-eating catfish. Ok, I might have made up the man-eating part. But I wouldn't put it past him.
Beth, sounds like you need to write the man-eating catfish story. ;-) And I believe you. I have seen catfish that big.
And thanks, Eric, for not pointing out the stupidity of me even suggesting that I might come across a catfish while snorkeling. I prefer my water clear and warm...and jelly fish free.
There will be cantankerous carp in my next story. Promise. ;-)
I'm enjoying the series too! Specially as I know you survive. It has all the classic elements - Heroine, a perrilous danger and 2 knights in shining armour to save the day! What more could you want?
Actually, I'm waiting for it to be Gwynne's turn to rescue Lyndon. Cause, knowing Lyndon, there has to have been at least one point in his life where he was in need, desperate need, of help. :)
I'll have to consider the whole man-eating catfish thing, definitely has possibilities.
Eric, our lack of warm water scuba has not been for want of trying. It just never seems to work out. But we've seen Manatees! That's gotta be worth something, right?
Rachel, glad you're enjoying it. It's as much therapy for me as anything else. ;-)
Beth, true as that may be, his needs simply surpass my abilities. ;-)
And manatees are cool!
Gwynaneenee,
Thanks for letting me know you wrote "Near Death Experience Story #2." I think being a bit player in #1 and a co-knight in #2 is quite enough activity for one life time, thank you very much.
As for G rescuing me, she did Beth. Friendship-wise, that is. I'd returned to the Central Valley for my high school tenure leaving Beau to drop out of HS and G to continue at MB and then on to Cuesta? I think that's right. At any rate, we came back to visit for a weekend and I picked G up after work (the Beachcomber Restaurant?) and had a great date. (It's okay to talk about dating 25 years ago, isn't it? lol) I was lonely from leaving all my coastal friends and it was just a great time to reconnect. Should I stop there, G? ;-) lol So there you have it - she wasn't the only one that needed help. lgp
...is quite enough activity for one life time
That's it? That's all? But what if I neeeeeeeedddd help, really bad? ;-)
And Beth,he's got his facts all wrong. I never worked at the Beachcomber Restaurant or went to Cuesta. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. ;-)
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