I Almost Drowned Today.

reply to post by shadow12


I just want to say that I am really glad you are okay and still alive! What a scary thing to go through! I am glad you had such great friends who were able to remain calm in order to save you!

reply to post by Pelvi

Rescuing muscled out people was always a pain >.>.. They sink like rocks and you REALLY have to wrestle them (you have to even sneak up on some people..)

I have a very low fat content, and i think that does make it hard for me to float

Dear Lord, that gave me flashbacks...

I was pushed into the deep end of a pool at the YMCA years ago. I recall struggling and being scared out of my mind, and then I recalled coming to on a stretcher. I was very small. I never learned to really swim after that. I can dog paddle enough to save my life if I fall over the edge of a pool now, but that is it.

My advice is to jump right back in, maybe with lessons so you don't stay scared. I am still terrified of the water. My husband and i fish, but it makes me physically ill to have him open the boat up and fly down the water. Same thing happens when I go out on the long piers at the beach. Not a good or fun feeling. Fix it while you can muster the strength to. Don't wait like I did.

Strong swimmers also drown all the time. You over estimate your ability at times and that can get you in all kinds of trouble. Rivers, lakes, ponds, oceans, etc all have different currents and pit falls. Extra lessons will never go amiss.

I am glad you are ok. That kind of traumatic experience can mess you up for quite a while.

My boy almost had it in a total wreck yesterday and walked away with his bud.

I'll say the same, your living the crazy life.

You can live longer than you realize, please take care of you. . .

You will be no good for yourself if you burn it out.

You feel everything you do to you as you age, keep it in mind, love you.

Cheers, and peace.

reply to post by shadow12


Same thing happened to me in the ocean. I happen to be an excellent swimmer, but before my trip to the beach, I had only ever swam in lakes and pools. The ocean, however, is much, MUCH stronger, deeper, and scarier. Lakes and Pools have no current, while oceans have two or three separate currents, under and above water. I got dragged out to where I couldn't touch the bottom, and I was drifting out further and further into the ocean, and thought I was gonna die.

But then, for some reason, the current changed and it pushed me closer to shore (that was REALLY lucky!). Swimming in the ocean was the only time I had ever swam and not had any control over where I was going. Then, I started thinking about sharks and jellyfish, and freaked out...

Anyway, I'm glad you made it. I don't think you're crazy for wanting to try again, just be really careful. I know next time I go to the ocean, I'm gonna conquer it.

reply to post by shadow12


Mate I know exactly how you feel because I almost drowned about a month or so ago. Me and my family went up north a bit (Australia) to Caloundra, anyways my parents had left the beach and were getting something and I was still in the water along with my sister and brother.I was just having fun ya know, playning around in the waves when I lost track of time , and all of a sudden the waves began pounding me really hard. I looked around me and I was the furtherst out from everyone of about 4 thousand people, so I tried to swim back in when the waves came crashing at me. But it just kept sucking me out, the waves kept dunking me with water to the extent that I could only get about a second of air before being bashed back under for 30 seconds or so and being able to come up again gasping for air again.

It was at this moment here that I thought I was going to die, nobody was in my vicinity to help me and I couldn't get to the surface to breathe. When you watch documentaries and see people say "I thought I was going to die", I just thought how did you have time to think that, ya know>? Wouldn't you be thinking how will I survive or something or not be thinking at all>?

But now I know how they feel, when your in a moment of life or death you will know what it feels like, everything slows down 100% and you feel like you have all the time in the world when in reality it is just minutes or seconds.

Anyway, the waves halted for a few seconds giving me enough time to get to the surface, I tried to call for help but I was so panicked that I couldn't utter a sound, so I waved my arms for help and after a few more seconds my voice returned and I began screaming for help.

I was pulled from the water by 2 men, it has really made me appreciate life a whole lot more.

I'm glad you pulled through it though.

reply to post by shadow12


i have never seen you on ats but i clicked on this thread .

i just want to say I'm glad you are here today to post your story.

I'm sorry u had to go through that. In many cases people just drown if theyre at the state u were in but it seems like it was a small lake. U must be still around for a reason. Make it worth it.

lay on your back and you can endlessly float or just dog paddle a bit.

closest I came to drowning was rafting on an air matress that got sucked underneath a tree trunk across the river, which I grabbed at the last moment, otherwise, yes I would have drowned 100%,
there was no escape had I missed the branch at the last second.

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
reply to post by shadow12

 

the section was about the length of a built in swimming pool

Uh huh... I'm sure traversing such a huge length must have been absolutely frightening...

Sorry, I just can't understand how anyone could panic in such a scenario if they were a perfectly good swimmer as you claim... and I can't stand people who flap all over the place like a mad man and drag down the person trying to save them, that's what little children do. Learn to suppress your raw instincts man...

edit on 21/6/2012 by ChaoticOrder because: (no reason given)

Anyone trained in lifesaving in water lnows you know NOTHING about lifesaving in water. I cannot spend another moment with such ignorance.
To the op.
I almost drowned once as a teenager in open water. It's a different experience than a pool. I dove in from a catamiran with only about a half mile to get to shore. I was a competitive swimmer. I had swam 5 miles for a lifesaving merit badge the year before. I could tread water for hrs. But in open water a certain panic can take place in open water that saps all your energy in minutes. Open water is soooo much different than a swimming pool. I'm glad you survived it!

reply to post by shadow12


Now will you serve christ in your new found life?
I love you and am extremely glad your still here!

I feel sorry for you noone should have to go through something like that, I'm sure it scared the crap out of you and I'm glad you're safe.

But on the logical/meaner side of the coin one could say something like:

You were in a section the size of a pool, why would you panic? Especially because as you say you are a confident pool swimmer.
Why not have something that can float with you?
Why attempt it at all?

I know the common reaction for people in that situation is they always end up pushing the person trying to save them under water and end up drowning both of you.. But it just seems like a reaction you would expect from a 6 year old. Then again I have never been in that situation (doubt I ever will, have always been good swimmer, surfed for many a year) so making an observation like that is obviously biased.. I just don't understand how you can go in such a small amount of water and freak out so badly you almost drown.

On top of that you then came on ATS and posted your story, in an effort I assume to receive some sympathy.. Which I don't think is the right thing to do, this is a forum focused on current events, alternative news, sightings etc.. And if people do post personal story's like you have it is usually followed by an important lesson, enlightened new point of view, or SOMETHING for the reader to take away. Your story offers none of that, just a story about you almost drowning. And then you admit that you want to do it again! What the hell?

This would probably be seen as a pretty brutal response to the OP but these are just the things running through my head after re-reading the post a few times, if that makes me a bad person.. well I guess thats your pov. It just doesn't seem like the right place to post this kind of story without any kind of follow up or lessons learnt.

I never understood why some people can't swim, seems like something that anyone should be able to do naturally.

I mean... humans float. Just lay on your back in the water and kick gently with your feet. It's not hard at all, just don't struggle and over think it. Just relax, hold your nose and mouth above water and your legs will naturally come up until you are on your back, then just paddle slowly backwards.

It's easy, just add water.

reply to post by shadow12


#1) I'm glad you're still alive

#2) LEARN TO EFFIN SWIM!!!

#3) Seriously bro learn to swim, My son Is four and he's a fish. I put him in swimming classes when he was two. The reason I did this was because my parents never did that for me and I grew up with a fear of water. I could fall in a pool and doggie paddle my way to safety as a teen, but I didn't actually learn to open ocean "Combat Swim" until I was 19.

Swimming is a "Life Skill" bro, if you're embarrased by not knowing how, see if your friends that saved you from drowning could help you out...You already know that you can trust them. While you're at it learn CPR too, that's another "Life Skill" to have. =)

Be Safe!

To those complaining about the OP struggling....c'mon guys. Really? I mean Really?

The guy was terrified for his LIFE! You only get one! We all KNOW how to act when emergencies arise, but do we all KNOW that is indeed what we would do? Something in most people's brains clicks in a fight or flight life/death situation where it just goes on auto pilot. This can cause you to do any number of things to survive the next few seconds, then the the next few seconds, and so on. Fear is a strong motivator.

I am not wanting to be argumentative, but the guy was terrified. I am sure afterwards he thought about how he shouldn't have fought and made his rescue more dangerous/difficult, but in the thick of it, I am sure he just wanted to breath safely.

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


People don't learn to swim by being cottled, they learn to swim by just doing it.

I would suggest the OP have a good swimmer around him when he tries though.

Originally posted by RSF77
reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe

 

People don't learn to swim by being cottled, they learn to swim by doing it.

edit on 21-6-2012 by RSF77 because: (no reason given)

I am not referring to his swimming. I am referring to him having to be rescued. Many a swimmer have needed rescuing and the OP said he was a good swimmer.

@knightwhosaysnih :Open water swimming is not the same as swimming in a pool, and i might have wrongly estimated the length.


@RSF77: I have a hard time floating :|, but like i said previously i want to try again



@Kangaruex4Ewe Thanks for having my back

reply to post by shadow12


Well, just keep practicing, it's not hard. Think of it like quicksand or something, the more you struggle the more energy you waste and the quicker you go down.

Best to learn as soon as you can though, you never know when the moment might come that you really need to. One day you might have to save someone else.

A lot of people have a fear of water they can't see the bottom of, maybe you might have this fear? If that's the case I always thought it best to conquer your fears and get over them. I have a fear of the ocean, but it's not because of the water it's because of the creatures in it. I can't really get over that since they'd eat me regardless.

reply to post by shadow12


I am proud of you for opening up and sharing this experience. Thank you for surviving today.