"I had just finished school when I went to Brisbane to spend summer with an old friend. It was a scorching hot day when her father suggested a trip to the beach in Maroochydore. When we got there it was blustery and choppy, so we decided to go in the shallows. Next thing I knew, the water was past my knees, then it was past my chest, and then it dragged me under."
"I kept trying to swim up to the top of the water, but I'd make it to the surface, take one breath, then get pulled back down. I now know you're meant to swim sideways to escape a rip but at the time all I wanted to do was get to shore, and I was failing spectacularly. This went on for quite a while, and I was getting very tired."
"It felt unreal, to go for a swim and a few moments later be drowning. I remember thinking: my mother is going to be very annoyed with me for dying. I was quite far out from the shore at this point and the last time I made my way to the surface, I heard a voice say, Do you need a hand?"
I went to Brisbane after finishing school to spend summer with an old friend. A scorching day led to a trip to Maroochydore beach, where blustery, choppy water prompted shallow swimming. The water unexpectedly pulled me past my knees, then past my chest, and then dragged me under in a rip I did not recognize. I struggled to the surface repeatedly, gasping for breath and failing to reach shore as exhaustion set in. A surfer asked, 'Do you need a hand?', pulled me to his board, and took me back to the beach. I did not tell my friend out of embarrassment. That rescue saved my life and allowed many decades of happiness.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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