Surreal brush with mortality...

namaarie

namaarie

Joined
Aug 23, 2004
Messages
1,499
Today, I witnessed a tragic death in a remote, surreal sort of way. A very strange experience to say the least.

I work at a boat rental on a busy lake here in Iowa. This lake has a beach that is used by many, mostly families out to escape the heat and enjoy a nice swim. My boat rental facility is across the lake from, but within eyeshot of the beach.

This afternoon, I recieved a phone call from a park worker, instructing me to prepare the patrol boat for action, and to try to locate a frantic non-english speaker who had called 911 about swimming and losing his friend in the water, but who could not be immediately found at the beach. When a person in my job, at a nice clean lake known for safety hears of a possible drowning, one takes it very seriously

While my coworker looked around for a frantic person, I sprinted to the dock to ready our pathetic safety boat for work. It is an outboard 5-horse, which means it takes probably three or four minutes to reach the beach at full throttle in mild wind. Bicycles go faster, which is bad in an emergency. My orders were to wait for personnel who may or may not come to use our boat.

After that, all I could do was watch with my coworker in a grim fascination as more and more emergency vehicles arrived at the beach. I was rather appalled at the media's response time. The first news van beat the SAR boat to the lake.

Our boat was never used, as the fire dept's SAR boat was quickly on scene and launched. Trained crew in a really nice, fast, well-equipped boat. Just as well, I guess. First the fire fighters and police scoured the shore downwind. Then the SAR divers entered the water from the beach as the boat arrived on scene.

Several minutes later, I saw splashes and all the divers and the boat congregated on a single spot of water. The boat then sped ashore, where paramedics were rushing to meet them with a stretcher. The group of people then went up and away from the beach around the stretcher.

Of course, you all know the outcome. A man, 20 to 31 years in age tragically died. Submerged for between 15 and 20 minutes. But what was strange was the serenity of the scene on my side of the lake. At that distance, the rescue divers and boat were dark specks on the water. The paramedics mere dots on the horizon. And all the while, the sun shined and the birds sang as the wind blew through the trees.

It was so bizarre to realize that this picturesque scene was so morbid. That such a good day could turn so bad so quickly. More bizarre, however, was the realization that for many, the day was simply another day. The lake is no less beautiful than it always has been. Oblivious, people just saw a pretty lake and wondered why there were news vans at the beach. An hour later, the beach was full and people were swimming again. People jogged merrily by on the trail, cursing the heat but enjoying the view.

Too wierd. I'm not sure exactly why I chose to share this. Maybe I just needed to write it down for my own clarity. Maybe there's something symbolic in this; some lesson to be derived. Or maybe it's just a strange day at the office. One way or the other, it made me think. I'm not sure what to conclude, but this is something I won't soon forget.

Be well, live well, and stay safe.

Nam
 
This is one of those days where you grow up in a big way. It is a gift to see and understand mortality, especially when it costs you nothing but a little innocence and naivete.
 
Have had a similar experience myself. It is a strange feeling to realize that someone has died prematurely. Your description of how the lake went on, birds, trees, water, sky really points out how this universe just continues.

I have come close to death personally and it does give a much fuller appreciation of life. To think that I might never have seen again the colors of the world, the feel of the sun, the wind, the people that I love.

We don't have a timetable showing our departure date. Could be any moment though we often treat life as though we will live forever.

Sure gave me a new appreciation of life, also letting people know on a regular basis how much I care for them,

Life can change in a minute or an inch.
 
I have come close to death too; in fact I could hear the hospital personnel making bets about how long I would last thought I was supposed to be unconscious. Life is something that we have no guarantee of so we should honor God and live each day to its fullest. One of my favorite quotes is "Death is easy - Comedy is hard" but I have a strange sense of humor.

Ice
 
It is really strange too, when you think about that guy's morning and his thoughts as he was heading to the beach for a swim. Probably not much different than my morning here or yours there. A little breakfast, thinking about what you have to do today, what you have to do this week, etc... and then its all pulled away from you without any notice.


It makes perfect sense to post it here. I had a nasty altercation once, and not only did I replay it my head for three days, but I told everyone I knew that would sit still long enough for me to tell them. I just had to get it out of my system and out of my head.

~ b
 
An experience that touched you, for certain.

Thanks for bringing it here.



munk
 
Everything. I feel we are drawn to stay here by more than our love of big knives. Respect for life, and understanding our place in it, has long been a recurring theme in the Cantina. And we are all richer for it. Thank you for sharing.

Frank
 
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People die around us everyday. And how sad it is that we so soon forget it. It's kinda like throwing a pebble in the water, Once the ripples subside you would never know a pebble had been thrown. God Bless the man and his family. & thanyou for sharing your story with us.
 
Namaarie:

You just experienced a tangible indication that the "world" for each of us is quite limited and small; it consists of our homes, our workplaces or schools, place of worship, favorite fishing streams or bowling alley, and of course close friends and immediate and some extended family. Our individual "reality" is based on that which we perceive. A boater towing a waterskier from 300 yards away from the incident would be oblivious, and at most would think, "I wonder what's going on?" Same for driving by the aftermath of a motor vehicle accident on the interstate. We see the mangled metal and perhaps offer a quick prayer or some other hope that no one eas seriously injured or worse. And often couched in that thought or prayer is a bit of thanks -- "There but for the grace of God go I."

I don't mean to sound cold, but I'm speaking about fundamental human nature. And a bit of that human nature includes the fact that we seldom look beyond our self-imposed boundaries -- like the deer in the forests, humans also seldom look upward (our outward, or under, etc.). The internet has helped to expand the horizons of those who use it; I have "met" a number of great people here in the Cantina who become a "hyper-extended" family of sorts -- I've prayed for Ad Astra and his wife during two hurricanes, and for Yvsa's granddaughter, and for Mamav's recent trips to NV and CO.

But there's nothing like a personal experience with death to bring the fact home. In a former life I've seen people seriously injured and killed; less so now. I've also came close to punching out with a gangreneous gall bladder -- the surgeon said I had less than 6 hours to live. It does tend to reorint one's priorities.

Thanks for the post, and best wishes,

Noah
 
Thanks for the insight. What you all have said is exactly what was inside my head.

Indeed, I brought this to the right place. As Silverfoxknows said, we do indeed stay here for more than big knives.

Thanks again.


Nam
 
First time 1961-Airborne troop -too much alcohol to drink Kentucky lake.
Second Time 1961- Squad leaders little boy was pushed into the water while playing on dock by his friend.
Third time 1990-San Jose del Cabo,Mexico. Old man possibly a derelict body had washed up on the beach. Strollers would stop for a few minutes and gaze then walk on.

Some excellent points made by author:

http://www.sustainedaction.org/Explorations/adventures_in_listening.htm

See book "graceful exits"
 
One of my saddest memories comes from a really happy day. The mother of my kids and I were still young and very much in love and we were at Lake Tenkiller with her brother's and their wives. Bob & Bill were both scuba divers and were teaching me how and we were all having a great time.
Then suddenly a deputy sheriff drives up to our camp and asks if a diver can come and dive on a drowning. Bob & Bill often worked on the recovery team with the local fire and police depts so of course the answer was yes.
We drove over to the scene and I'll never forget it. A little three year old girl was stepping out of her daddy's boat when he told her to stay put. She set back down and he got out of the boat and went to tie up the front of it to the dock.
While he was doing that his little girl started climbing out again and because the back of the boat wasn't tied up tight to the dock the boat slipped sideways and it was to long of a reach for her little legs, she slipped right out of her life jacket into thirty feet of water and daddy didn't hear a thing until it was too late, just a gentle splash.
When he turned around she was already gone and the only evidence was her little life jacket floating in the water.
Bob & Bill went in right away and in less than five minutes they had the little girl between them. She had been in the water maybe thirty minutes and of course it was way to long to try and get her to recover even though the EMTs tried.
A sad day, a very sad day. We went back to camp, packed up and went home.
That evening our kids had new life jackets with straps sewn on them to go under their legs to prevent such a happening.
Life can change in an instant. I can't even begin to imagine the pain that daddy had to live with but I know it never went away.
 
Seen a lot of death and the kids were always the hardest to take, especially after having my own. Never quite get used to it. Walked down to the morgue with my daughter stillborn at 6 months.It helps understanding what life is all about. Actually glad that it bothered you. Doesn't some people.
Terry
 
I wish I could remember the advertisement...There used to be a firearms industry ad something to the effect that your perspective was dependent on your level of involvement.

John
 
I had an eventful Christmas 3 years ago.First run of the night,at 10:30 on Christmas Eve,my partner and I had a cpr at a residence.The whole family and friends were there,and the patient died at the hospital an hour later,despite our best efforts.At 0100 on Christmas day,we had another cpr run,and by the time we got to the hospital,the patient was talking to me,asking me what happened to him.I told him he just got the best Christmas present ever.For what it's worth,I am glad that it bothered you also,as too many folks just don't care one bit.Sorry for the ramble,just my 2 cents.
 
I had an experience this weekend that could have resulted in the death of myself and several others. I was out east of Mt. Hamliton in CA at a friend's ranch to watch the Perseids meteor shower. They have an old Isuzu Trooper up there, and I was getting the grand tour of the property along with 3 others. At one point we drove up onto a ridge to get an overview of the ranch and the surrounding land. At the top of the ridge, the car stalled. The only way to start this car is to put it in neutral and start rolling...they bought it for $200 and it was in poor shape. Well, we couldn't get the car started and the brakes went out, so we started picking up speed. Tried shifting into gear...nothing was working. I was in the rear passenger seat, and I didn't realize at first that the driver had nothing more than steering. It wasn't until we started sliding on the dirt road that it clicked. The hill dropped off about 300 feet on either side, but one side had trees and the other only had grass and shurbs, so we half-intentionally crashed the car into a tree at 40/45 mph. The tree slowed us almost to a stop, and the parking brake kept us from sliding more than 10 feet down the hill. Nobody was seriously injured and we all walked away from the ruined car.

Now, I've been in car accidents before, but this one really hit me. Everybody was sober, we all had seatbelts on, and the driver knew the terrain well; this was just a trip around the ranch at low speed. Yet we all came within a hair's breadth of losing our lives, saved only by a well-placed tree. The road continued down the ridge and we would have been going at least 60 mph by the time we got to the bottom...and the hairpin turn at the edge of a stand of trees. Those trees would have stopped us too, but we probably wouldn't have gotten off so lightly. If we had gone off the other side of the hill, the top-heavy Trooper would have rolled all the way to the bottom.

I'll be thinking about this one for a while. I'm a young'un, and I haven't internalized my mortality yet, but this weekend introduced a giant wrecking ball to that outlook. I see now that my death could come at any time, under the most mundane circumstances. We weren't doing anything foolish or dangerous, except getting into a car that clearly had serious mechanical problems which were not readily apparent.

I may not be able to control all the events in my life, but I can stack the odds in my favor by being alert, knowlegeable, and safe. When my time comes, I hope my life touched others for the better and my days were enjoyed to their fullest. And don't get into $200 cars unless their brakes have been inspected recently. ;)

Tycho
 
Spectre said:
I wish I could remember the advertisement...There used to be a firearms industry ad something to the effect that your perspective was dependent on your level of involvement.

John
Click to expand...

Great quote!

Kinda reminds me of the fella who said about the media:
No violence,no bleeding,no conflict,no sex=no interest. :rolleyes:
 
Thanks for sharing.. It's good to think these things occasionally.

My first consciousness of some of this came years ago, from the song by Skeeter Davis "End of the World"
( "Why does the sun go on shining
Why does the sea rush to shore...
Why do the birds go on singing
Why do the stars glow above
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended when I lost your love").
I knew it was just a love-song, but then something "clicked" in my mind, & I realized that it could be applied to everybodys' experience of their tragedies (with a few exceptions like the Kennedy assassinations, & the World Trade Center; THEN, everybody DID know, and DID care).

I got some of the same feeling in the movie "Titanic" when they left all the up-close-&-personal hub-bub on the ship, & pulled away for a long shot of the tiny little boat on the great big sea.
 
I can't remember when right now, or even where I was.
highschool a friend I just got to meet was having a bad week, last time I saw him I decided to keep walking so he could cool off. Few days later his heart just exploded near that same spot, he was walking out for a cigarette with better friends than I, so to speak.
It was an undetected condition, that was the day it hit.
All I think about when it comes to mind is how his girl is, she got the deposit from the engagement ring she didn't know about. I bet she's a tough lady.


Well I always got a drink for my brothers with the big shoulders.
 
My close friend Phillip whom I had known since high school was fatally stabbed by a drunk outside a well-known discotheque in Kuala Lumpur. He was only 25 at the time. For a long time, his death dwelt on me as I was invited but had to cancel due to work. Many times I wondered if it would have made a difference had I been there as well, or if I would have been the one lying dead instead.
 
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