Day 3- A Very, Very Near Death Experience in Campbell River-
Written Wednesday, August 15, 2012-
Well, if you thought this blog was lacking excitement the
last few days, so did I, but all that changed today! Oh my, what a day it was. It actually started very, very early and
very, very sad.
If you remember, we were in a slip in Campbell River in the
Discovery Harbor Marina. It’s a large
marina…many hundreds of boats there. As
you know, I don’t like marinas but they are necessary and appreciated and serve
their purpose.
Well, last night, actually, early this morning, Val and I
were both sleeping (or trying to) but we kept hearing people talking loudly and
running up and down the dock. You know
when you’re in the euphoric state and not quite sure what is reality and what
isn’t? Well, these voices and footsteps
were keeping me from my deep sleep but I wasn’t quite alert enough to assume
anything abnormal; however, suddenly, I hear a horrific scream from a young
woman, “Oh, God. Someone help me. Oh, God, help!” As I wake, my first thought is that some
young folks are messing around and its’ late and they’re getting silly but then
the cries turned absolutely horrifying! She was shrieking at the top of her
lungs. I hear a splash in the water very
close to our boat. Suddenly, I realized
someone was drowning! No!
I shot out of my berth, threw on my shorts, grabbed my huge
spot light, and screamed at Val that someone was drowning right next to
us! Out the door I went with the big
light on searching for where the ruckus was coming from. It didn’t take long before I thought I
spotted a man in the water and the terrified woman trying to pull a body onto
the dock. She was screaming at the top
of her lungs and could not get the body out of the water and onto the
dock. Our slip was half way down “H”
dock and the commotion was half way down “I” dock. I knew I could help so off I ran as fast as I
could down “H” across the main and up “I” dock.
Could this be happening? Was this
a mother trying to rescue her young son?
That’s all I could imagine. This
all is happening within seconds of my awakening. Am I having a horrible nightmare?
I wish it were the case.
But, no, as I arrived, I saw that another man, which I assume was the
fourth in this party, had helped pull the body onto the dock. I shined my million candlepower light on the
scene and realize that this situation had just gotten really, really bad. In my opinion, the male body had looked like
it had been in the water for a very long time.
I won’t describe the details but, needless to say, the image will never
leave my mind and I didn’t sleep the rest of night. I asked the young lady (I’m guessing the four
of them were all in their early 30s) if she knew CPR and she immediately began
working on his chest while she commanded one of the other guys to blow air into
the victim’s mouth. I was so thankful
that they had gotten him on the dock and that they knew CPR. I didn’t know what to do but pray. I’ll spare some of the details here but
within moments the medics arrived and took over. Thank God.
Val was up and dressed by then and met me as I stood a few feet away
while the medics tried to revive him.
Neither of us were optimistic and just prayed. Teams of professionals were arriving, sirens,
lights, the works. Val and I asked the
dock security agent if there was anything further we could do and then quietly
walked back to our boat. What a surreal
experience.
Connor was at the helm when we got back to the boat sitting
in the dark watching the scene unfold across the fairway. The medics were now administering the CPR and
the defibulator. As hard as they tried,
they could not get a response. His three
friends were on their knees wailing and sobbing and crying, “Jeff, come
back. Please, Jeff, come back!” The medics were still working on him as they
hauled the man off on a stretcher. Oh
my! What had just happened here? A nightmare?
Not!
An office came down our dock and visited with us a bit and
said that he’d like our statement later but he had more pressing issues to deal
with at the time. Val, Connor, and I
convened again in our boat, prayed over the situation, and reflected on what
had just happened. I was pretty
shaken. Connor informed us it was now
3:30 in the morning. My guess is we had
been alarmed from our slumber an hour earlier.
We tried to sleep but we could hear the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police up and down the docks, radios chattering, lights flashing. All I could think about were the images, the
screams, the terror. I prayed they had
revived the man. Finally, at 6AM, I got
dressed, got the dogs leashes on and hopped off the boat heading for a doggie
pottie break and some Starbucks. The
RCMP immediately retained me, got my credentials, and started to question me. I gave the officer everything I knew, but
admitted, it all happened so fast and I went from asleep to terror. That officer asked me to wait while he hailed
the lead investigator, who came right over and I had to relive it all again for
him, this time on tape. I don’t want to
judge or jump to any conclusions but the officers certainly weren’t just
accepting this was just an accident. I
kept praying it was. I finally asked if
the man had been revived. He had not.
Finally, the dogs and I were released (or, in the dog’s
case, relieved) and we went up for my Venti Raspberry Mocha. Ah, a bit of solace in the chaos. My heart was broken and I couldn’t get my
feelings under control. I was just so
grateful for my family as I knew other’s lives were shattered just a few hours
ago.
As I returned to the boat, there were officers all over the
docks taking pictures, collecting evidence, talking to all the other boaters.
I needed to get my mind off of this so I started cleaning
the boat, prepared it for departure, took my shower, checked my emails, and
made phone calls. At 9AM, Val and Connor
were ready to go so we started our engines and departed. I was very glad to be gone. This is a night I will never forget.
As I laid in bed wide awake between the time of the incident
and the time I got up, I reflected on the scripture Connor shared for our
devotions: Psalm 86: 1-7, where the psalmist cries out to the Lord in his time
of trial. I realized that, while I
actually didn’t do anything, in my heart, I was relying on my own ability to
handle the situation instead of crying out to the Lord, the only God that could
have saved that man. Yes, I prayed, but
in the heat of the moment, I was thinking, “what can I do? I’ve got to help. I’ve got to jump in the water and pull him
out. I’ve got to give him CPR. I’ve got to….” Well, maybe I’m being too hard on
myself. Val says so, but, the words of
the Psalmist, still ring in my ears.
There are so many life lessons I learned from last night. God doesn’t waste a thing and good will come
from this but it’s just hard to see right now.
We had an amazing day after this
but for now, I think I’ll close this entry and start afresh with a much, much
brighter outlook to the magnificent day that lied ahead.
