Bravery at Sea

Today, while we were at Playalinda Beach, a 6-year old girl was being washed out to sea by the strong currents. Evidently no one was watching her. Her grandmother finally saw that she was too far out and then everyone was watching her. Luckily, she could swim because she was in very deep water. The tide was taking her out to sea.

We watched as her father battled the strong currents and finally reached her. He was struggling to bring her back in. It was kind of like "two steps forward, one step back". After an agonizing ten minutes or so, he was able to push her forward toward the shore and another family member was able to grab onto her and get her to safety.

We were still watching when we realized that he was in trouble. His mother realized it, too. She reached out for him and guided him to the beach where he collapsed. He lay there for about 10 minutes. His wife came and she and his mother got him up and walked him over to their umbrella where he laid down.

Down the beach came the lifeguard (there is only one, stationed at parking lot #3) on his 4-wheeler. He started oxygen and an IV. Obviously, he had already called for help. Soon the rescue EMTs arrived with more oxygen and a defibulator. I was worried that he was having a heart attack. We later learned that he (36 years old) was suffering from anxiety and was having a hard time breathing. A beachgoer told us that the EMTs told her that he had a buildup of adrenaline that was making his heart beat too fast. When he got to the beach, instead of lying down, he should have been walked around to help his heart slow down. I guess it would be similar to a runner at the end of a race. A runner wouldn't just stop running, but would walk around to cool off.

Anyway, he was taken to the hospital for a checkup. He had to have help getting to the parking lot, but he was walking on his own.

Even with all this going on, I saw several unattended children playing in the deeper water. Moms and Dads were under the umbrellas, talking on cell phones, reading books, napping, whatever. When we had Maggie, Emma, Hannah and Hope in the water, we were with them all the time, unless they were at the edge; even then, one of us was always watching.

I hope his family knows what a hero he is.