Have any of you experienced a time when you were unable to breathe? Literally one of the worst sensations you can ever feel. I have had a rough couple of weeks and haven’t really felt like reflecting on life or really anything, until I saw this picture on Facebook.
When I was 7 or 8 I was with my family at a place called Surf and Swim. It has a really amazing tide pool and we would go there all the time as a family. I remember swimming there 3 times a week during the summer, playing racquetball, and eating some of the best tasting french fries (chips?) that I have ever had to this day. But I think pretty much all food tastes amazing after you have been swimming for hours. One of the times, we were at Surf and Swim in the tide pool just riding the waves without a tube. My dad was close by me as we jumped in and out of the waves. I didn’t time one of the waves right to jump over it and it pushed me under the water to the bottom of the pool. I knew how to swim, but my foot got caught in a suction drain and it wouldn’t let me break free to get to the surface. It was one of the most frightening times of my life. I was frantic and flailing trying to free myself and finally had to breathe, taking in water instead of air. Right as that happened a firm arm grasped me and pulled me to the surface, freeing my foot from the drain. Even though the pool had many lifeguards, none of them had seen me go under and not come up. But my Dad had, and he caught me just in time. In reality I was under probably only 20-30 seconds, but when you are literally stuck underwater and can’t break the surface, it feels like an eternity. Just thinking about the event right now makes chills run down my spine.
After my Dad pulled me up I remember him smiling and saying “Hey, you okay? We lost you there for a minute.” But I know it was his way to try and calm me down (and probably him as well), because we had both been frantic. Me underwater fighting to come up, and him above searching to try and find me. Not really been much of a fan of swimming pools, lakes, or oceans since.
Fast forward 6 years. My sister and I had just come home from a youth activity and we were both starving because it had been such a busy day and we hadn’t had time to eat. We sat down in the barstools at the counter and dug into our Sloppy Joes (what a horrible name for a sandwich by the way). I found myself scarfing down the food, not chewing enough and a piece of my Sloppy Joe went down “the wrong pipe” and I choked. OF course, of all things I end up choking on something called a ‘sloppy joe’. I remember trying to cough really hard trying to get it to come up and I grabbed my sisters arm trying to let her know I was in distress. But she thought I was being a pesky sister by getting her white shirt dirty with the sloppy part of the joe, and to be candid, I WAS a pesky sister most of the time.
Anyway, within seconds I threw myself away from the counter, throwing the barstool to the ground at the same time, which caught everyones attention. I was grabbing at my throat unable to talk or breathe. My mom started screaming for my dad and he came running in. Without even thinking he immediately started the Heimlich Maneuver, and on his second attempt the food dislodged and I began gasping in air. Breathing never felt so good! And just so you know, my Mom makes amazing Sloppy Joes from scratch, and I have eaten them since! Food for thought, if a cat has 9 lives, how many must I have? Hmmmmm. Good question! 🙂
Is it interesting to anyone else that in both of those experiences my dad was the one to save me? I’ll reflect on that more later.
Both of these stories involve the physical side of not being able to breathe (and more of my lovely near death experiences). But what happens when we find ourselves fighting to stay above water in the deep end of life completely unable to catch our breath? Can they be just as “near death”?
I just realized that I am really tired. Being up at 4am will do that to a person. So I will answer that question and more tomorrow! Stay tuned.
Eye Opening Honesty 