Drowning
I was just getting the hang of swimming...
Bolinao Falls--Somewhere in Pangasinan, I thought I'd lose two of my closest friends. If I counted right, that incident marked the third time I brushed with Death. The first with companions though, and that was the toughest part.
No lights, no nothing. None of that crap about your life passing before your eyes. But for those three times, I assume the way time slows down is always a constant. I'd guess it only took less than a minute... It felt longer though.
Here's how I saw it...
I can't swim. I can stay afloat for a few minutes I guess, probably drift a couple of meters, but after that I'd drown. I believe everyone's born with the ability to do the dog paddle, so I don't consider my ability to do that "swimming." My left calf just recovered from the cramps. And now the right is in trouble. Jeff, with Sef hanging on him, was swimming toward the rock where I stood. Even when on the rock, the water's still up to my chest. Off the rock, it could have been six feet or less. When they came closer I took Sef's arm and pulled her to the rock. My right calf's killing me. There was only space on the rock for two--one and a half really, so Jeff just floated around it.
That's when Sef said, "Ang sakit ng likod ko." And she arched sideways. Off balance, we slid off the rock. Great. Two people who can't swim. Jeff quickly reacted by pushing us back, but he pushed a little too strong. So after swinging back to the rock, all we really did was fall to the other side. I made a desperate move to shove Sef back to the rock. In the hopes that Jeff would save her. I slid off the rock, and tried to float.
Sef was screaming. "What are you doing?!" I was actually surprised I stayed afloat. Sef was still screaming, "Why are you drowning me?!" An arm's length away from them I saw everything. Jeff had his hands around Sef's waist, pushing her up. Sef was holding to Jeff's shoulders, pushing him down. I don't know much about drowning, but I thought then that Jeff, wouldn't last a minute like that. Of course there was no way he could breathe under water, but at least Sef was not sinking. Unfortunately in her panic, Sef's still not breathing, even when half her body's above the water. She's still screaming.
And then in another desperate attempt to push upward, Sef pushed on to Jeff's head... And then clung to me. I was pretty certain I could stay afloat... On my own. With a passenger I'm doomed. For about three seconds we managed to stay afloat. Jeff is still under water. I guess I started to panic myself, because we started sinking. I opened my eyes and saw jeff still under taking in gulps of mossy water. With my breath I could probably hold on for 30 seconds more, but seeing two of my friends so near death, I panicked even more. My feet touched the mushy pond floor. I pushed with all my strength (at least those I still have left) I managed to get Sef and me up for maybe two breaths of air. Again unfortunately for her, she still didn't breath in. We started to sink again. I pushed up again the moment my cramped legs touched the floor. This time, it wasn't enough to propel us up. I didn't know what to do next. Apparently, my calm in tensed situations only work when I'm the only one in danger. Hope slipping away, I felt a shove from behind, and I drifted toward a shallow part of pool. I turned quickly, and caught Sef, also drifting toward me. I looked at Jeff and saw that he actually made it to a rock, and was weakly hanging on. My legs gave way.
It felt (and now sounded) like it was a really long experience, yet it must have taken only around 45 seconds at most.
Looking back, it's funny how if we all died, we'd have gone with really bitter memories. Jeff would take the thought of his failed rescue to the depths of eternity. Sef's last thought was that we drowned her. Me, well, I would have been the last to die. I still had air when Jeff was about to pass out. I would have carried the memory of my friends dying before my eyes to the confines of hell.
Oh well, we're alive. So, no worries.
Bolinao Falls--Somewhere in Pangasinan, I thought I'd lose two of my closest friends. If I counted right, that incident marked the third time I brushed with Death. The first with companions though, and that was the toughest part.
No lights, no nothing. None of that crap about your life passing before your eyes. But for those three times, I assume the way time slows down is always a constant. I'd guess it only took less than a minute... It felt longer though.
Here's how I saw it...
I can't swim. I can stay afloat for a few minutes I guess, probably drift a couple of meters, but after that I'd drown. I believe everyone's born with the ability to do the dog paddle, so I don't consider my ability to do that "swimming." My left calf just recovered from the cramps. And now the right is in trouble. Jeff, with Sef hanging on him, was swimming toward the rock where I stood. Even when on the rock, the water's still up to my chest. Off the rock, it could have been six feet or less. When they came closer I took Sef's arm and pulled her to the rock. My right calf's killing me. There was only space on the rock for two--one and a half really, so Jeff just floated around it.
That's when Sef said, "Ang sakit ng likod ko." And she arched sideways. Off balance, we slid off the rock. Great. Two people who can't swim. Jeff quickly reacted by pushing us back, but he pushed a little too strong. So after swinging back to the rock, all we really did was fall to the other side. I made a desperate move to shove Sef back to the rock. In the hopes that Jeff would save her. I slid off the rock, and tried to float.
Sef was screaming. "What are you doing?!" I was actually surprised I stayed afloat. Sef was still screaming, "Why are you drowning me?!" An arm's length away from them I saw everything. Jeff had his hands around Sef's waist, pushing her up. Sef was holding to Jeff's shoulders, pushing him down. I don't know much about drowning, but I thought then that Jeff, wouldn't last a minute like that. Of course there was no way he could breathe under water, but at least Sef was not sinking. Unfortunately in her panic, Sef's still not breathing, even when half her body's above the water. She's still screaming.
And then in another desperate attempt to push upward, Sef pushed on to Jeff's head... And then clung to me. I was pretty certain I could stay afloat... On my own. With a passenger I'm doomed. For about three seconds we managed to stay afloat. Jeff is still under water. I guess I started to panic myself, because we started sinking. I opened my eyes and saw jeff still under taking in gulps of mossy water. With my breath I could probably hold on for 30 seconds more, but seeing two of my friends so near death, I panicked even more. My feet touched the mushy pond floor. I pushed with all my strength (at least those I still have left) I managed to get Sef and me up for maybe two breaths of air. Again unfortunately for her, she still didn't breath in. We started to sink again. I pushed up again the moment my cramped legs touched the floor. This time, it wasn't enough to propel us up. I didn't know what to do next. Apparently, my calm in tensed situations only work when I'm the only one in danger. Hope slipping away, I felt a shove from behind, and I drifted toward a shallow part of pool. I turned quickly, and caught Sef, also drifting toward me. I looked at Jeff and saw that he actually made it to a rock, and was weakly hanging on. My legs gave way.
It felt (and now sounded) like it was a really long experience, yet it must have taken only around 45 seconds at most.
Looking back, it's funny how if we all died, we'd have gone with really bitter memories. Jeff would take the thought of his failed rescue to the depths of eternity. Sef's last thought was that we drowned her. Me, well, I would have been the last to die. I still had air when Jeff was about to pass out. I would have carried the memory of my friends dying before my eyes to the confines of hell.
Oh well, we're alive. So, no worries.
posted by Ban at 5:56 AM
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