30 Day Challenge 9

Day 9
Tell about a time when you nearly lost — or thought you might lose — your life.

This is an easy one. Took place, oh, 1969-1970. The family (the four of us) were on one of those pleasure cruises to Washington Island in Wisconsin. On the way back across Green Bay, a storm came out of nowhere (or it seemed that way to me). There was no shelter on the boat, so everybody just sat down on the benches, out in the open, and hung on. It was terrifying. The swells and troughs (I think that’s what you call them) of the waves were slamming everyone around. I was seated next to my sister and mother, and wanted to get up to sit with my dad. In the pouring rain, I stood to go to him, and at that exact moment, the boat lurched violently to one side and my feet left the deck. I was airborne and going over the side.

The only thing I remember was being yanked by the back of the powder-blue windbreaker I was wearing and pulled from what definitely would have been certain drowning. It only took me a second to realize that the person who saved me was Dad. I spent the rest of the horrific ride back to shore with my entire body glued to his neck and chest.

Since then, me and boats….ehhhh not so much.

What about you?

21 thoughts on “30 Day Challenge 9

  1. Country Mouse

    My “near death” experience is one I don’t remember but have only heard about. When I was one or so I got into the kitchen drawer (in the days before child safety latches were popular) that held the aluminum foil and decided to sample a small piece. I started choking on it and got to the point of actually turning blue when my Dad took action. He didn’t have any formal training but I guess instinct took over and he dislodged the foil so I could breathe again. Thank goodness for Dad heroes!

    Reply
    1. Rat Fink Post author

      How many of us have dealt with a choking child? I think it’s one of the scariest things ever. I think at the end, mom/dad are just as freaked out as the kid!

      Reply
  2. Suzanne

    I mentioned the tornado last week. That was #2. My first was when I was floating on a raft in a lake in a pretty deep part. I flipped over and lost my bearings–didn’t know when I was underwater or above and kept trying to breath while underwater. I was flopping around and finally righted myself, got on the raft and paddled back to shore. Family was oblivious to my predicament…..

    Reply
  3. PKPudlin

    I remember this vividly. I was very young – 3 or 4. My aunt was visiting and sitting in the kitchen with my mom, who was feeding my infant sister. I wandered out onto the sunporch and on the railing there was a little china dish with what looked like water in it. I picked it up and drank the liquid, which tasted funny. I went back into the kitchen and the look on mom’s face when she saw me with the empty dish in my hand and sour look was one of pure horror. She scooped me up and we went on a wild ride to Saint Elizabeth’s emergency room. The doctors were waiting for us (I presume my aunt phoned them) and I had the distinctly unpleasant experience of having my stomach pumped.
    The liquid was ammonia. Fortunately, due to mom’s quick response I did not have any damage. I did leave a mark on a few nurses, though because I fought like a lion. :)

    PK

    Reply
    1. Rat Fink Post author

      Ammonia — I can imagine your mom’s horror! Do they still do stomach pumping? I’ve never had the pleasure, but it can’t be pleasant.

      Reply
  4. Meg

    It was one of the first bikerides on my own. I was riding over the bumpy traintracks down the road and all of a sudden I couldn’t pedal anymore. My bike tire got stuck in the track. I got off and yanked and yanked and it was pretty stuck. (I’m sure you can predict the rest) Then I heard the siren and saw the gates go down. I’m pretty sure I peed down my leg. I thought I was going to have to run and watch the death of my bike but one last yank got it out and I ran for my life. To this day I hate trains.

    Reply
  5. Bando

    My earliest memory: I was somewhere between 18 months and 2 years old and my mom was at church choir practice, so I was home alone (read: largely unsupervised, even at that age) with my dad. While he was reading on the couch, I was playing in the corner and decided to eat a quarter. That’s not the part I remember – I remember what happened next. He ran from the couch, yanked me up, ran me to our bathroom, hung me upside down by my ankles and proceeded to whack me on the back until the quarter went dropping into the sink. And I watched it all happen via the large bathroom mirror – and thought hanging upside down was pretty fun. Dad still says it’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’ve been pitched off many a horse right onto my head.

    Yay for Dads! Except mine was usually a major contributing factor into any such situation. Still is.

    Reply
  6. Lars

    I seem to recall a fond memory of The Fink, Seamus, and myself hopping onto the Matterhorn at our local county fair when I was approx 6 or 7 yrs old. Being the legitimate entity they were and their strict adherence to all safety and operating guidelines I was able to board the ride, no problem. For those unfimiliar with the Matterhorn: Think of a Giant Circle of Sleighs meets Merry Go Round at near supersonic speeds. Needless to say, the restraints couldn’t keep me in tight enough and as the ride got faster the centrifugal force was too much and I started making my way out of the sleigh (For some reason I got the most outward seat, thanks). I remember The Fink screaming and screaming for them to stop the ride and Seamus was bear hugging me as tight as he could to keep me in the car (thanks bro!). Also, the operator had a Freddy Kruger “Glove Hand” that he would wave everytime we went screaming by him, that firmly stuck in my brain. To top it off, they never stopped the ride early for us… what a day.

    Reply
    1. Kodye

      Same thing happened to me on the Matterhorn at Cedar Point when I was about 7. Except for the part about the Freddy Kruger glove. The person operating my death trap that didn’t have one of them.

      Reply
    2. Rat Fink Post author

      I so remember this — I wanted to lay the hands on that idiot. And I can’t recall why we sat the way we did…maybe I was thinking backwards. One thing’s for sure: I was definitely not thinking about the danged thing going so fast as to throw you out!

      Reply
  7. Kodye

    I thought I was going to die the time I went to go get my special made WWF Championship from The Rock on this bridge in Boston, and he threw me off of it… wait… Nevermind that. I’m confusing my life with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s again.

    My first panic attack ever. Thought I’d never be able to take another breath. But now, I’m quite use to them, and no that I wont die when I have one. Which is a little reassuring.

    Reply
  8. Kodye

    I just realized I put “no” instead of “know” in my last post. Words can’t describe how angry I am at myself.

    Reply
    1. Lars

      Calm down, Kodye. We can’t have you panic attacking on the Fink’s site. You know… liabilities and what not.

      Reply
  9. Greg

    When I was about 11 years old, we moved for the summer to Medway, Ohio to be nearer to my dad’s jobsite. We joined a local swim club–a very large lake in the center of the village. One afternoon while paddling around in the water, I got too far out and was having trouble getting back closer to shore. To make matters worse, two plus-sized women in inner tube were floating along chatting to each other and heading straight for my head. I was sure they’d bash into me, pushing me under and I started panicking even more. Luckily just before they got to me, I managed to get a foot on the sandy bottom and pushed myself forward and got to more shallow water–but not before drinking a quart of lake water as well. No after effects though! From the lake water, that is!

    Reply
    1. Rat Fink Post author

      Ugh — I can so relate to this. Few worse feelings than losing your grip and worrying you won’t make it back…

      Reply
  10. Rat Fink Post author

    OK, these were scary. Tomorrow will be more of a feel-good exercise. What I like most, regardless, is people writing about their experiences. I heart writing — and writers. According to my stats, visits to this site by unique IPs has almost tripled over the last five days. How fun is that?

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Bando Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.