After a while the girls got hungry and my friend went to the kitchen to give the girls a snack. I was sitting at the table and watching the little brother swim, he just took of his floaty and was swimming by himself, just a minute before he was swimming with a floating ring. So I told him how well he could swim already without a floaty and he smiled at me. Then just a split second later the sheer panick on his face and he went down, I walked towards the pool and saw him going down again, and without hesitation (I got my diploma for rescue swimming when I was younger) I stepped into the pool and grabbed him under him armpits and lifted him out of the water.
It happened so fast and it was luckily all OK, he cried a bit when his mom came to help him and we finished our tea....me dripping but with a towel around me I was OK as well.
Just when I was laying in bed, the moment came back to me...this eery feeling I had when I stepped into the water...4 moments flashed in front of my eyes, the drowning of a friends child, just 3 at a neighbours pool we knew. The drowning of a person who was at the beach with us while we were vacationing in Thailand, the almost drowning of a friends child while we were also right there in her backyard....and on top of that even though I am a strong swimmer I was laying on a sunbed and the wind carried me out so far into the ocean and blew my sunbed away. Now I had to swim back in a strong current. I got tired and felt so heavy that I went down 2 times. I called for help to Dirk but he didn't hear me and when he saw me he thought I was waving. Same sheer panick I felt, the same I saw on the little boys face yesterday. But luckily I gathered all my strength and swam back, but I remember this moment so vividly and was quite taken aback by the strong water that made me so weak!
The weird thing was at that split second when I saw these flashes going by, I also was aware and kind of surprised to feel the water entering my clothes. A thought went by like: Hey, my clothes are getting wet? So much thoughts at such a short period of time. Even typing this takes longer than the moment went by. I didn't hesitate one second before I entered the water to grab the little boy and I am glad I wasn't sipping my tea at that moment! Water is very tricky and so unpredictable, it happens so fast and the most dangerous of all.... so silent!
Last night I was also thinking about last weekend, while the girls were swimming we were hanging up the curtains. OK we saw them through the windows while we were working on it, but I wasn't right next to them if something had happened...I wasn't there to jump in if it would have been needed....it kept me up last night...all these thoughts. And I am just grateful that nothing serious happened yesterday or last weekend!
Tomorrow a happier posting I promiss, but I had to write it off my chest!
Keep Safe!
Mireille
2 comments:
How scary. Water is indeed a silent killer. My friend's baby drowned and my Mum saved her cousin from a pool drowning back when they were children. I am glad you acted so fast and all was well. You are my hero today. :0)
Wow. Thank God you were there! A good thing for me to remember for little Ruby. I had been thinking of swimming lessons for her at an early age. Now I am even more convinced of it's importance! Good for you to post this as a word of warning and caution for all of us.
Jen
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