Late WDT is late. I'm only a little sorry. Today I survived a kid's birthday party. Eh, that's a little dramatic. I had a bunch of people volunteer to help set up. The worst part was the cold, hard, constant wind, but I brought really good tape. I think the most dangerous things I have survived were by luck or medical intervention. For example, I was drunk as a skunk on a tubing trip when a popup storm hit and made the water crazy. My sister was afraid I was going to drown, but I was happily oblivious. I didn't realize how drunk I was til I tried to stand up at the end unsuccessfully. Those rum balls hit HARD. I also vomited on the side of the road on the way to the after-party. It was a day. I also survived placenta accreta. I was awake for all the procedures, and I definitely almost died. How about you? What was your close call? Did you survive by chance, know-how, or medical interventions? Be safe this week!
Almost got killed in a landslide about 8 years ago. Ran along a hiking trail on a ridge as the ridge was collapsing behind us. Terrifying. The only other close call I had was getting swept out from a shoreline by a very strong rip current. If I wasn't a fairy strong swimmer and didn't know how to swim against a current, I would have drowned.
Ooooh man, that reminds me. I had an ocean close call while a friend was visiting when I lived in Hawaii. We went to North Shore to swim and snorkel in a cove, I think it was called Turtle Bay. The mouth of the cove had buoys in a line to indicate open ocean passed this point. I somehow ended up in open ocean and the buoys were a good 30' or more away. I don't know if it was a current that pulled me away or what, but I definitely saved myself by focusing on staying calm and swimming sideways. I am not a strong swimmer by any means but I knew not to fight the current. I eventually made it back. My friend was clueless and had no idea any of this was happening. I have no concept of how long it took to get back but it wasn't quick.
I’ve posted before about being stalked by a polar bear. That has to be the closest call I’ve had. A close second might be an incident I was too young to remember. When I was around 3, my mother left me unsupervised outside in the summer heat. I was playing in the asphalt “yard” behind our apartment building. When she finally checked on me I was suffering from heat stroke. Bad enough that they had to immediately throw me in a bath with cold water and as much ice as they could find. Once my temperature dropped they took me to a doctor. The only time you went to the emergency room in the 1960s was if the ambulance brought you there.
When I was about 12 I still couldn’t swim. We were at summer camp on one of the Finger Lakes and for some reason I ended up on the deeper end of the swimming area. I couldn’t touch bottom, panicked, and nearly drowned. I remember the entire thing, including the moment of almost peace before, thankfully, one of the lifeguards saw me and pulled me out. Poor guy lost his glasses saving my life. You can bet your ass I learned to swim, and later earned my Mile Swim patch there. Many years later I was working with my buddy who’d gone through paramedic school with me. He was a few years older than I. We were talking about our time in Scouting and I told that story. He turned to me: “That was me that pulled you out.” I shit you not. We compared notes and when he said he lost his glasses, that sealed it. He went on to introduce me to my wife of 25 years and I was best man for his wedding. He and his wife are our first son’s godparents.