I Almost Drowned Today.

reply to post by shadow12


I could swim before I could walk, and would call myself a very strong swimmer (lessons and lifeguard training my whole life). I can attest that even strong swimmers have these moments. I think it has to be a primal reaction. To get through them without freezing up next time try switching over to your back. Look at the sky and whip kick (or frog kick depending on your level) in the direction of the shore. While doing this focus on steady even breathes to bring your adreline levels down. If your having a fear response, float on your back for a bit (kick a little to stay up if you have to) and sort through why you could be scared. Im usually reacting to something brushing against me, so I go over different types of fish and plants. by then you will usually calm down, you just have to practice switching over in water you feel safe in so it becomes an automatic response.

Hope that helps you

reply to post by shadow12


Priceless, similar story when I was a young buck during spring break. Buddy and I went out swimming in Florida...current pulled him out..I went out to go help him and he too panicked and pushed me under...natural reaction...I panicked at first when I was under but felt a bit of calm when I accepted that I was going to die...I remember seeing the water around me and the bubbles and the surface...a few seconds after a lifeguard reached down and pulled me up and pulled me to shore...we were both checked out on the beach released and back to his moms house in Florida...we were as white as ghosts despite our tan...I'm not acknowledging some after life but I will say that I did feel comfort towards the end...and you will get over it and go back in the water...lesson learned my friend

Originally posted by shadow12
When I finally calmed down I thanked my friends, and told them that i would have and still would do anything to save their lives too, if they were ever in trouble.

Except save them if they were drowning lol

reply to post by shadow12


Sounds pretty brutal. I've swam in open water but I'm always surprised at how careful I have to be. I feel like water is my kriptonite though. It seems to follow me wherever I go. Almost every place I've lived has suffered from a leaky roof, or an overflowing toilet (not clogged). I almost drowned once when I was little. These days if I go swimming I have no issue with just dog paddling to keep myself afloat if I need to but if I get tired I literally just take a deep breath and let myself go under and just sort of relax and take a brake from the effort. By the time I need air I have the strength to keep going.

i went snorkeling in the atlantic ocean, first time in open water. it was very panicky and i had a life vest! i got maybe ten feet behind the boat looked at the reef and a few fish looked back up and was like i've had enough!!! i was in water for maybe 10 minutes lol it was fun and i would do it again just have to try and not be so panicked!!

reply to post by shadow12


Your experience brought back my memories of being on vacation in Cancun, whence one night I ate some contaminated fish which made me very ill and weak with low blood pressure for a day or so. When I thought I was better, me and my husband, young daughter , sister and brother-in-law decided to go to one of their beautiful beaches to snorkel. I ventured out about 50 to 100 feet from from shore (hard to remember but it sure felt far) and began to snorkel in about a 10 foot drop from when I suddenly became dizzy which probably was an effect from the food poisoning. I began to wave my arms frantically to my family standing on the shore as I started to blackout. All they did was wave back thinking I was gesturing as such! It felt surreal as I felt panic engulfing me...similar to how an anxiety attack feels...with racing thoughts of, "I'm on my own, I will drown...when the urge to try anything, suddenly kicked in and I began swimming the backstroke (which I am good at) with all my might, not taking a single second to ponder if I'll blackout totally and drown. I was literally on automatic-pilot as I backstroked onto shore like a super-powered boat! In hindsight, I realized the importance of having a partner in the water with me at all times...after all, think of the many different scenarios that could cause a blackout, much less other ways we might drown...and oh so easily without someone to help us! Yes, a very frightening and enlightening experience!

Originally posted by tjack
Scary read, brother, I'm glad you're still with us! Any idea why you started to panic? Maybe it was further across that section of lake than you estimated. Distances across water can be deceiving.

I think sometimes the MERE thought of dying makes one panic more...in any situation!

As a kid I have swam in lakes and small rivers, clear enough to see the bottom were the fish are swimming below your feet. I once had a fish swim over my shoulder, get stuck, and slap me in the face with his tail! On a larger river, I stood on a sand bar and could feel the current pulling the sand out from under my feet. I knew I wanted no part of that. I am not a very strong swimmer, and usually make sure I am either close to land or something to grab a hold of.

The irony is that I once almost drowned in a public pool as a kid. We were racing across the deep end when I felt my energy drain and I couldn't even doggy paddle to keep myself up. I felt myself going under and no one even noticed that I was struggling. I was young, maybe nine or ten, and I finally pushed on (obviously) and made it across, gasping and coughing. What really frightened me was that no one even noticed, adults and kids alike.

I guess what I am saying is I know that feeling. It is horrible and really sticks with you.

that was scary, glad you survived, wear a life vest in the open water....riptides ,don't try to swim to shore swim parallel to the shore , the rip tide is only so wide and you will get out of it, then swim in...very easy to misjudge distance in open water...

I'm glad you're ok buddy, and don't worry... despite the critics, everyone has some type of "challenge", no one is exempt. I agree with the posters saying to start small. You've already stated your a good swimmer, so here's my proposal. You get two buddies to tie a rope maybe on a swimming vest, or around your waist. Take your time and creep your way out. If you start panicking, they pull you back in. Good friends will do this for you, and eventually, you'll teach the "reptilian" part of the brain that you are not lost, or sinking, or in danger.

reply to post by mainidh

I .. OP your post reminded me of a book I read a while ago, called Breath. Written by Tim Winton, a great author where I live. From kids mucking about in the local water hole to a paramedic, the theme was how life in all of it's exhilaration can change in an instant.
[/quote


]This post made me think of a headline i our newspaper today about 2 missing swimmers at the beaches in New Jersey with a devastating picture of the missing 18 year-old's friends sitting on the beach with extremely distressed looks on their faces, although the one that disturbed me was the boy's face with his mouth agape crying out with immeasurable anguish at this plight. When I first viewed it today, it got me thinking how probably minutes earlier, they were all having a blast at the Jersey Shore with nary a thought of anything so devastating....and how quickly it all changed to a living hell for those friends whom wait it out for the probable result they dread hearing.

edit on 21-6-2012 by elrem48 because: second post not a quote.

Swimmer 1, death 0.

Glad you are alive!

reply to post by shadow12


Although it was a scarey incident....what happened to you...revealed what is really important to you....deep in your soul...your friends, family and God...and I think that is wonderful!

I am glad you are still with us.

reply to post by shadow12


Its nice you HAVE FRIENDS who CARE to them and happy to hear you made it thru the situation safe.

reply to post by shadow12


I am glad you are ok!! Please be careful! I use to love to swim, and something just changed. I want go but knee deep in water. How I learned to swim as a child- My dad just threw me in! As I have gotten older in life, I am just more careful. Dont let this incident take youre love for water away from you ok!

Originally posted by Jukiodone
Not a nice experience but you lived to tell the tale and you now know that you shouldnt swim in open water unless you have experience.

I'm not responding to lecture but because I found myself in a similar situation around 8 years ago whilst swimming on a beach in Thailand:

I'd done mini/half trathalons in open water for over 5 years so although not pro I'd call myself a "proficient" swimmer.

I went in the (South China Sea) checked lifeguards were visible and made sure the safe swim flags were up but within 10 minutes at a depth o around 1.8 meters I found myself in the strongest rip tide I've ever encountered.

Almost without warning the tide turned from light to quicker than swimming speed so with 2 minutes of realising I was in a rip I was about 100 metres from the shore.

I waived at the lifeguards but within 30seconds of stopping my full power swimming to shore I'd been pulled a further 30 metres out.

After around 10 minutes of frenetic swimming I'd managed to maintain my position but the sea was clearly going to win...same heavy legs and panicked breathing but instead of swimming to shore I realised that the real danger was from sinking not floating so just set about treading water.

After about 15 mins more I heard a motor and to my relief a tourist on a jetski was heading my way.

After waiving at him and shouting I climbed on the jetski and must've been around 400 metres from shore and pretty damn tired.

He dropped me off about 20 metres from shore and it was the most surreal experience to walk back up the beach to see my GF, the lifeguards and all the other tourists having a great time and I'd been thinking about death 5 minutes previously.

The secret in a rip situation is to swim across, not against a rip.

Rips tend to be fairly narrow flows of current and are usually shaped by subsurface features and beach profile. This limits the width of the rip area. Swimming 100m across the beach front usually takes you out.

reply to post by shadow12


Yeah. I'm afraid to swim in the lake. I wont do it even though I LOVE the water.

So glad you are okay.

Glad you are still with us!!
I believe it was definitely not your time to go.

reply to post by shadow12


S&f!
Glad you survived!
Take care.

BEWARE OF SECONDARY DROWNING!

GET YOURSELF CHECKED OUT IF YOU SWALLOWED WATER!

WATER CAN GET IN YOUR LUNGS AND KILL YOU HOURS LATER

EVEN IF YOU ARE WALKING AROUND FEELING OKAY!

By Jane E. Allen
May 15, 2012 4:32pm

Delayed Drowning: Man Dies Hours After Pulling Himself from Water

A 60-year-old man fell into New York’s Long Island Sound, pulled himself out — and then died several hours later, apparently of drowning. Emergency doctors today called it a case of secondary drowning, something very unusual.

The man, Tommy Mollo of Yonkers, N.Y., fell off the back of a friend’s boat Saturday morning while helping move it between slips at a marina in nearby New Rochelle, WABC-TV reported. Mollo returned to his apartment and told his wife he felt ill. She called 911 and emergency workers took Mollo to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:05 p.m., the station reported.

An ER doctor told the station that water got into Mollo’s lungs when he fell overboard, which led to subsequent breathing difficulties that could have been exacerbated by medical issues he already had.

Mollo’s case represents a rare occurrence of a relatively rare phenomenon, beginning with his self-rescue, emergency room doctors said.

Secondary drowning typically occurs “when one is immersed in water, they almost drown, water successfully enters the lungs, and then they are rescued,” said Dr. Gabe Wilson, associate director of emergency medicine at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. “Conceivably water could be inhaled while one still had the means to pull themselves out, but it would certainly be a rare occurrence as usually panic sets in by then.”

Wilson cited one study that showed secondary drownings make up 5 percent of overall drownings in children and teens. ”There is no great data for adults,” he told ABCNews.com.

The lag between the time water enters the lungs and begins to cause problems can range from one to 48 hours, he said. “Because onset can be rapid, it is not known whether there are predictable warning signs.” As a result, anyone who experiences an episode of near-drowning should be evaluated in an emergency department and “possibly observed for 24 hours,” Wilson said.

Lung damage from secondary drowning occurs when water comes into direct contact with the cells lining the lungs, interfering with their ability to supply needed oxygen to the body and to take away carbon dioxide, a gaseous waste product.

This damage can be particularly severe when delicate lung tissues are flooded with salty ocean water, like that of Long Island Sound. The water “tends to pull fluid from the body into the lungs,” said Dr. Larry Baraff, associate director of the emergency department at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. When fluid moves into the lungs, it “takes up space where the air would be.”

In Mollo’s case, he said, ”it’s conceivable that the drowning episode and lack of oxygen led to a heart problem, like a cardiac arrhythmia or a myocardial infarct (heart attack).”

However, he said secondary drownings are survivable with fast-enough medical attention.

“If you make it to the hospital alive, it’s very unusual to die from drowning,” Baraff said. Survivors of near-drownings who arrive at the ER in what seems to be good shape will undergo monitoring “just to make sure they don’t get worse.”

Those who are in distress can be put on a ventilator. Doctors then use pressure to “force fluid out of the lungs so oxygen can get back in.”

First I would like to say glad you are okay. I found the below quote in your story interesting and imo one you should remember.

Then came a sense of peace. I could no longer keep my self afloat and i just wanted to give in.

Once I was hit broadside by a speeding car. No time to think, just acceptance, and "so this is how I die". There was that same sense of peace and listening to you, probably acceptance.

It always reminded me of a line in the book about Corrie Ten Boom. She was waiting with her Dad to get on a train. She was going alone and kept asking her Dad when will I get my ticket. He told her she would get the ticket when she it was time to get on the train and not before.

Remember that peace you felt. I have never been afraid of death since the accident.

Hope this helps you put a new perspective on your harrowing experience.