*( i must mention a factor relevant to the story initially. only in passing, since i will give greater detail in another post.
i am and have been battling cancer for many years now. initially it produces a sort of reduced clarity like a brain fog.
it also creates for itself an increasingly acidic environment in the body. lactic acid. have you ever exercised until lactic acid
begins affecting your muscles? cramping - that. { 25 years plus,surgery,radiation & still beating it })*
*{this day three other people died in the waves along this coast, including experienced surfers}*
i had intended to post this before now. i hope it may help someone. i grew up swimming since before i could walk.
raced. i certified in lifesaving and guarded. grew up near and live near the ocean. body surf, boogie board & surf,
so playing in the waves is quite familiar to me. i learned to read the waves & conditions. so this day, that knowledge
and a cool head would save my life.
i was on the coast of north carolina at kure beach body surfing & boogie boarding. i arrived early to swim all day
in the rapidly approaching hurricane waves from the southeast. the waves had grown steadily during the day. they were
getting less organized driven by stronger winds. the tide was receding slowly in the afternoon and an increasing current
was now running very fast parallel to the beach.
i had been wearing boogie board short fins earlier so i kept these on when i went back out to body surf. only a very
few surfers and i were in the the waves now, 8 to 10 feet and increasing rapidly. by this point i had been swimming most of the
day. i have phenomenal endurance but an unusual fatigue caused an uneasy stirring in me i had learned to listen to.
looking to the shoreline for the first time in quite a while i saw nothing familiar. i could tell i was Miles away from where i had
entered. i began trying to make my way very slowly in, catching every wave i could to aid the effort. as i reached where
most of the waves were breaking, the erratic patterns sapped more & more of my fading energies. the waves were no longer
the orderly row type. they had transformed near the shore into the wildly tossed random frenzy of the approaching
hurricane.
i made a quick scan of the near shore surf area. the topography of this area is such that as the storm approaches
from the south east, a very strong current runs parallel to the beach. on a receding tide, this had pulled the sand away
from the shoreline. this left only a very steep bank with huge waves now crashing with about 6 or more feet of rapid
run back. underneath there was not a speck of sand where you would normally expect to find it.
i realized to my horror i was now swimming for my life. the lactic acid from the yet undiagnosed cancer filled my body,
further deep fatigue had set in from the 2 hours swimming i had taken to get near the shoreline. my leg muscles were
near exhaustion from kicking all day. i knew i had to do everything possible to conserve energy, resting at every opportunity.
this was very difficult, as i was now in the impact zone. some times i had to hold my breath until 2 or 3 waves
had crashed over me. my lungs were burning from the sea water i had breathed in. controlling the urge to panic was
the only thing that could help me now.
i reasoned that only by riding in on the largest of waves would get me closer in. so i timed my swimming with them.
each time i got really close, the 7 feet of run back on the steep bank would carry me back under the pounding waves.
my legs muscles had now begun to completely seize after over 2 hours fighting the waves. i took the short boogie
fins off of my feet very carefully between the raging waves and put them on my hands.
a few of the largest waves i caught just right brought me far enough up the bank that for just a moment i felt
some sand. but the 6 or seven feet of backwash would pull all the sand away and drag me underneath another
huge wave. the fast moving current from the south had dug a deep channel 10 or more feet deep next to the
very steep bank. there was now nowhere to gain a foothold in the churning frenzy.
my energies were almost gone. my lungs were filling with seawater inhaled or splashed in. i knew i had to
figure something out fast or die. i prayed for God to help me. i resolved i would not die, fighting with every fiber
of my being. i would not die in sight of shore.
then i remembered a pattern i had seen in fleeting moments over the now 3 hours plus. occasionally, a wave would
allow me to feel a flashing touch of sand before the backwash dragged me under again. i recalled seeing a scallop
pattern over the years at the beach, every 100 yards or so there would be a slightly higher spot.
i determined to catch the largest waves i could. on occasion, i found if i pointed one leg and foot down as far
as i could, for a moment, there was a patch of sand. then the steep run back of the waves would swiftly pull all sand away
before the next pounding wave drove me down again.
so i knew somehow that momentary patch of sand was my only hope. after swimming all day, and the over 3 hours in the
impact zone, this was it. i readied my self for the next brief second that could save my life.
i caught a giant wave that carried me far up the steep bank. i held my breath and extended my outstretched
leg and foot pointed down as far as i could. at an angle to the raging run back on the steep bank, i literally
barely touched sand on the end of my big toe. i leaned into the torrent only to have it drag me under again.
i knew it may be hundreds of yards down the beach before i may get another chance. this happened again and again
until i despaired from exhaustion.
i steeled my self to the task with the thought that i would not let this beat me. another wave brought another chance.
again i held my breath and i felt the end of my big toe touch. i leaned against the torrent, sinking several feet farther
under water as the sand was pulled from beneath my toe. i couldn't stop to breathe now as another huge wave
rolled over. i pushed myself slightly forward and leaned into the huge run back current.
another huge wave let me push again with my toe forward. the sand now pulled away and for an instant let me put one foot
down. i pushed with all my might and gasped a breath as i leapt up and forward. knowing another huge wave was milliseconds
away, i planted one toe down and leaned forward. holding my breath and inching my way forward, i sensed another
large wave and jumped from the one toe and swam as hard as i could.
the water now was about shoulder high running back and i leaned hard to hold my toe hold as the sand pulled away
from beneath me. i turned to see another large wave, grabbed a quick breathe and dove forward with all the leverage i had.
at last one foot down. another wave, still holding my breath, i surged forward to have 2 feet down. another wave and i was
pushed to waist deep water. still dangerous run back sucked the sand away, but i leaned into it and leapt with all my
remaining strength to be free.
i staggered onto the shore. immediately i leaned over, coughed and expelled a huge volume of fluids from my lungs.
again and again as i gasped for air in between. i was about 7 miles from where i started, so i began the exhausting
walk back. grateful to have survived.
*( it should be noted that people under such conditions should immediately seek medical attention. the seawater in your lungs is salty,
so your bodies response is to secrete fluids into the lungs by osmosis to try to equalize the osmotic pressure of
differential salinity on the other side of the membranes. this is called secondary drowning. i did not know this at the time. two days later
i couldn't breathe. i coughed up and expelled a huge volume of fluids. i could have almost died again )*
