Zanglais Lifeguard

I have hesitated in posting this story on my blog because it was quite traumatic for those involved.  However, it has a happy ending so I decided I would share the story.

Since I have been helping as a youth leader this year, I went to Zanglais with 40 teenagers and 6 other adults for the annual retreat. We spent four days on the beautiful coast.

We left on Saturday and rode a school bus for four hours. When we arrived at Zanglais, we unloaded the bus, chose our rooms, went over rules, and then headed straight for the beach. The waves were pretty strong, but we were all very excited to swim. Most of our youth have never been to the beach before so they are not very good swimmers. They like to stay in the shallow water. I've always been a strong swimmer. I swam out to where it was about chest deep so that I could enjoy the waves without being slammed around too much. Several of the boys and Mr. Fausnaugh (a chaperone) joined me. After a while, a few of the kids ran back to the house to get some boogie boards.

I remember Mr. Fausnaugh swimming next to me and commenting on how fun the waves were. We noticed two of the boys about ten feet away. They looked like they were splashing and having fun, but my lifeguard instinct in me told me to go make sure. I swam over to them, and that was when I realized that they were not ok. One of the boys, Adams, was into distress and screamed for help when the tide began to pull him farther out to sea. When Patrick (another teenager) started trying to help him, Adams instinct was to grab him pull him under the water. I managed to help Patrick get a boogie board put Adams on a boogie board.  I could tell that Adams was in shock, and he didn't have much strength to hold onto the board. Patrick and I each took a side of the board as we began swimming him into shore.

The next chain of events happened so incredibly quickly that it is almost a blur. As I was helping Adams and Patrick, I heard more screams of “HELP! HELP!” I looked to my right and saw two boys struggling to keep above the water as they screamed for help. I felt a sick feeling in my stomach. I remember thinking, “Lord, what is happening??” I knew that since Adams was on the boogie board, Patrick could handle getting him back to shore, so I left them. I swam as fast as I could to the other two boys. It was Anthony and Bendy, brothers. I yelled for Mr. Fausnaugh as I grabbed Bendy. Mr. Fausnaugh grabbed a hold of Anthony. Thankfully, there was another boogie board nearby and we were able to quickly get the two boys to the board and get them on top of it. I was about to help swim them to shore when I heard more yelling.

Again, I looked to my right. I saw two of our high school seniors, Christian and Kevin both thrashing in the water and screaming for help. I remember thinking to myself, “This can't be happening...what is going on?!” I left the Bendy and Anthony on the boogie board with Mr. Fausnaugh, and once again swam as fast as I could. I got to Kevin first, thankfully, because he was struggling much more than Christian. I could see the panic on his face as I got close. I grabbed him by the arm and immediately, he began clinging to me. I remember telling him, “Do not pull me under! If you pull me under, we'll both drown. Let me hold you.” I was somehow able to hold him above the water. I could tell we were getting pulled farther out from shore because I could no longer stand. Christian was still struggling to stay above the water about two yards away. I couldn't reach him without letting go of Kevin. Christian was looking at me with panicked eyes screaming, “What about me?! HELP!”  I didn't know if I had the strength to hold both of them so, I tried to calm Christian down. I remember telling him, “Christian, your head is above the water. You are ok. Just calm down. Lean your head back and just take deep breaths. I'm right here. You're going to be ok.” But, it was not helping. He was too panicked.

It's kind of a blur, but I think I let go of Kevin just long enough to swim to Christian and grab him by the arm. I brought the two boys together, and struggled to hold them both up. Christian was completely panicked at this point. He grabbed me around the neck in an attempt to get his head farther above water. He was pushing my head under water and I was fighting to get him off of me. Finally, I had to let him push me underwater so that I could push his arms off of me and wiggle out of his grasp. I firmly told them to let ME hold them. I tried my best to talk them through it and keep them as calm as possible. I didn't want to yell for help because I was worried that if I seemed like I was afraid, the boys would be even worse. But, I could see from Christian's face that he was starting to give up. It was getting harder and harder to keep all three of us above the water. Several times, Christian slipped out of my grasp and under the water. I couldn't see anyone near us. I caught a glimpse of the shore and I could see Kez standing on the beach. I was praying and praying, that she would see us and come running into the water to help us, but she never moved. 

Somewhere in the distance, I heard Mr. Fausnaugh yelling for help. I realized that my strength was running out so I began yelling for help as loud as I could. The waves were so loud around us that I knew no one on shore would hear me. It was at that point in time, that I realized there was a very good likelihood that the three of us were going to die. I still had the strength to keep myself above water. However, I was not leaving the boys and the two of them had almost given up fighting. I remember just praying and praying for God to send someone to help us. I knew that I only had about one more minute left in me before I wouldn't be able to hold them any longer. I kept holding on and praying that someone would come for us.  I was getting more scared with each passing second. All of the sudden, I heard one of the other youth leaders, Dan, yelling to us.

I found out later that Dan had been swimming closer to shore. When the kids brought the boogie boards down from the house, he got excited and went to get one. In his excitement to use it, he ran back into the water. Mr. Fausnaugh saw him and yelled for help. He told Dan, “Go to my right! They need help to my right!” Dan looked to Mr. F's right and saw two of the boys that I had helped onto a boogie board. He started making his way to them, but then he heard my voice yell for help. He said that he couldn't even see me because I was at least two waves farther out to sea. He began swimming as fast as he could towards my voice until he saw our heads in the water.

When Dan got to us, I didn't even have to say anything because he could see the fear in my eyes. I have never in my life been more thankful to see someone. It was literally a miraculous answer to prayer. He helped me to get the boys onto the boogie board. I clung to the left side of the board and Dan was on the right with the boys in the middle. We began swimming them to shore. However, the rip-tide was keeping us stuck in place. Christian had completely given up and was unable to even hold onto the board. He kept slipping off the back. I remember hearing Dan yelling at Christian, “Hold on, man. Just hold on and pray.” Thankfully, Kevin still had strength to hold on to the board as we continued paddling to shore.

As soon as we got to a point where I could finally touch bottom again. I stood up. I remember that the adrenaline and whatever strength I had wore off. I just began to cry with relief. Dan helped carry Christian a shore, as his face was as white as a sheet and he could barely walk. I saw all four of the other boys that had been in distress safely on the beach.

I have never been so relieved and scared at the same time. I was shaking and I felt like I was going to be sick. But, I was praising God that we were all alive. Looking back on the situation, I realize there were so many, “If it weren't for...” moments. I know that if it weren't for Patrick being out in the water, Adams wouldn't have made it to shore. If it weren't for Mr. Fausnaugh and I, Bendy and Anthony wouldn't have gotten on the boogie board and back to shore. If it weren't for me being there, Christian and Kevin would have drown long before anyone could have gotten to them. If it weren't for the kids bringing the boogie boards to the beach just minutes before all of this, Dan wouldn't have come running into the water. If Dan wouldn't have come running into the water, I would have drown while trying to save the boys. I know that those events were not all coincidence. God was looking out for us, and holding us in his hand.

I thank God for giving everyone involved the strength that was needed. And I praise God that we are all alive.  I thank God that all the boys went swimming again the next day.  I thank God that this near death experience created a bond between Christian, Kevin, and I.  And, I thank God that we were able to enjoy the rest of the retreat!  

Kevin, me, Christian

(more Zanglais photos and stories to come)