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!
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| Kevin, me, Christian |
(more Zanglais photos and stories to come)
