Near Drowning

We are bombarded by verbal warnings every day. We hear warnings everywhere,

warnings from our families to “buckle your seatbelt”, friends who say “you have had

enough to drink,” and sometimes strangers might even give you a warning such as “watch

out for that car” or “my dog bites”. Most of the time we ignore these warnings because

the likelihood that a warning could dramatically alter, change, or even lose our life is slim.

In reality, I found out it can and it will eventually happen to you, if you do not listen to

verbal warnings.

We were enjoying our three-week honeymoon in Hawaii when my husband told

me, “Don’t ever turn your back on the ocean.” He grew up on Oahu, one of the five

islands we were visiting, and it was one of the things he had learned from the locals as a

young boy. Since I had not planned on swimming in the ocean but only to wade in

shallow water close to the beach, I did not heed the true nature of his warning. His words,

just two days after hearing them would haunt me for the rest of my life. The situation

is similar to when you don't pay attention to the stewardess aboard a land-based

flight when she explains that your chair cushion becomes a floatation device in water.

You think to yourself, that I am not flying over water, so why do I need to listen? Then

the plane crashes into a small lake and you wished you listened as you grab onto a

sinking piece of debris, hoping it will hold you above water until help arrives.

The day that changed my life was a warm and sunny afternoon in early January 1980.

My husband and I chose to spend the day at the famous Punaluu Black Sand Beach,

located on the Big Island of Hawaii. This beach was very fascinating and beautiful

because the beach sand was jet black and very smooth. The black sand evolved from the

natural erosion of lava that flowed into the ocean from nearby volcanoes that are located

just north of this gorgeous beach, at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

As I stood at the water’s edge, water lapped at my bare feet on the wet and warm

beach sand. The ocean’s surface that afternoon was fairly smooth with a few ripples and

void of any waves. A bird flew overhead. The whispers of the ocean beckoned me to

enter. I stood there staring at the horizon before entering the inviting shallow water. I

walked out into the water and after walking 80 yards, I was only standing in ankle high

water. I wanted to see how far out from that location where there was at least four feet of

water. I continued wading until I reached my waist, about three and a half feet deep. I wanted to

see how far away I was from the beach, so I turned around and waved at my husband who was

about 500 yards from my location. I said to myself, “I’m pretty far out here to be in only waist

deep water”. I turned around and after that brief moment with my back to the

ocean, I saw a fifteen foot wave coming straight at me at a considerable rate of speed.

My brain was scrambling to remember what my husband told me to do in this

type of situation. I knew I was too far from the beach to try to swim away from it. I did

remember him telling me, “If you come across a wave, take the biggest breath you can

and dive into it before it curls over and collapses into the water, which can kill you”.

I watched the wave barreling towards me, unable to do anything about it and waiting

for the chance to dive in and come out the opposite side. As it approached, the wave grew

larger and then the water started to curl just before it got close enough for me to try

his solution. Now the wave was curling even more, so I improvised and took a deep

breath and ducked under the water in a fetal position, hoping it would pass over me.

As it passed over me, I was pulled up into the wave backwards like a back-flip

dive, which almost broke my back. The wave plunged my body back into the water and

pushed me to the bottom of the ocean with great force, head first. It drove my head into

the sand so hard, that I thought I was going to break my neck. At the same time, my

body was twisted in ways the body was not designed to withstand. Luckily for me I was

only twenty-two years old and in great shape. I was under water less than two minutes.

At this time, my husband and a few people on the beach started to enter the water to

rescue me. They thought I was in the vicinity of the wave when it pulled me up into it,

but instead I was in an entirely different location now and closer to the beach.

I started to blackout from lack of air. I think I was under the water at this point

for over three minutes. Then suddenly my head popped up for a split second and I

managed to get a half of a mouthful of air before another wave pushed me under again.

A second wave pushed me closer to the beach, but now I was caught in the under-

tow and I think I was starting to drown at this point. I was out of air and my lungs ached,

it felt like an elephant was standing on me. Just as I was about to drown, my body was

apparently in a sitting position with my back to the beach, because the water lifted my

head and back out of the water and I was able to breathe freely. It felt like someone sat

me up. Even though I was dazed and confused, I noticed I was in water less than two feet

deep and very close to the beach. No rescuer was anywhere near me.

After I was out of the water, I found black sand in parts of my body that I thought

would be impossible to collect sand. My hair was so tangled, that I could not get a comb

through it. I was completely exhausted but at least I was alive.

Although this near-drowning experience occurred thirty years ago, I often

advise others about listening and paying attention to warnings which are all

around us. It could save their life someday. I was lucky, I got a second chance.