Wednesday, 31 December 2008
-
My Brush with Death While on Vacation
Guest post submitted by Linteria
It's April of 2007. While most college kids were in Cancun, Boca Raton, or some other typical beachy Spring Break place, I was in the Dominican Republic with my family on vacation.
Everything was dandy throughout the vacation, except for this beach I hadn't seen since I was 9 or so years old. At first glance, I was awestruck by how much the travel and resort industry transformed this beach, which was deserted and pristine on my previous trip there. Still I jumped exuberantly into the water and made my way into the deeper parts.
What I did not realize was that for every step I took (I can't swim yet), the undercurrent carried me a couple feet more than I intended. When I finally turned around and looked back at the beach to my family, I could only barely reach the surface for air and was swallowing what felt like gallons of salt water, while still being pushed back by the current.
I didn't necessarily feel scared for my life, I didn't see it flash before my eyes or anything, but I panicked like hell. My cousin -- thank god for family -- had to come save me, but my grabbing and pulling on his shirt made things that much harder for him. But give me a break, I had more water in my lungs than air at that point. I don't even remember how he got me out anymore, but he did and I owe him for life.
Have you ever had a near-death or dangerous experience while on vacation?
-
recommend
- recs 0
-
share
-
email
- sent 0
Related Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to tripcrazed's Tripcrazed Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in tripcrazed's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: Linteria@xanga
- Name: Rollin
- About Me: I love tennis, music, writing, games, movies, girls, and dabble in all of those.
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 5 Views: 0 1673 Comments: 0 26 View all posts by Linteria@xanga
Comments (6)
Yes on the way back from New York City to John F Kennedy (JFK) International airport it was the transfer back by mini bus the driver were taking plenty of chances, we will very lucky none of us was injury or even killed.
I am going to the DR in January and I went two years ago. It seems the water can be quite rough there. I think I saw on the news how a girl was in the same situation as you and her boyfriend saved her only to be washed away himself, and his body was never found. A friend of mine, who took lifeguarding, say that victims always pull at the saver because they are panicky--I would be like that too since I can't swim so I am so afraid of venturing too far. Thanks for the warning.
Not while on vacation, but I do recall almost drowning as a kid.
It was in a pool, and I went down this temporary slide they set up for young'uns. It was usually set up just shallow enough for me to tip toe back to shallow water, but this time I guess they moved it deeper by just a foot or so, because I went in and sunk like a rock.
I remember everything you said you did; just feeling the water come over me, gasping for air and getting water. I flailed for a bit before I just let myself sink, accepting defeat. It seemed like years before a lifeguard grabbed me and carried me to the shallow part.
The summer after that I developed what the dr. called an allergy to chlorine, but looking back now, I think it was my first instance of a panic attack, exclusively around pools.
there was once when i was visiting my home country of Bangladesh and my sister and i were crossing a road. a truck came zooming up the path and my sister and i had to jump into a nearby bush. right then a snake slid right past my sisters foot. we were very young, too young to realize the damage that a poisonous snake posed. we only realized till later.
Oh my gosh. This same thing happened to me too.
I was on a trip to Nicaragua. Swimming in the ocean with some friends at sunset... so nice. Suddenly we realized how far we had been sucked out and I realized (as the shortest of the bunch) that I hadn't been able to touch bottom for a LONG time and that the waves were getting rough. I basically had to have some of my friends help tow me in and we smashed into these lava rocks that completely cut all our legs up. We walked on to the beach with blood literally dripping from our legs, those rocks are so sharp.... oh my.
I get so paranoid when swim at beaches now....
OK, let me think here....
One year in Mexico City, my group was crossing a six-lane road (and silly things like lanes don't matter much in Mexico City) and I somehow got stranded in the middle of the road with a huge semi-truck barreling towards me. The truck stopped and let me go in front of him, but he was laughing at me the whole time.
Another time, I almost walked out in front of a car in Mexico City. One of the guys from the group had to grab me and yank me back on the sidewalk. It was embarrassing. I also tripped a lot. I probably could have tripped and fallen on something sharp and dangerous.
Um...Oh, yeah, I almost fell off a ledge while hiking the Grand Canyon. I reached out and grabbed the first thing I could, which ended up being a lady from our group's boobs. I was very thankful for Debbie's boobs that day.
I almost fell of a ladder while painting a house in South Texas because some idiot bird almost flew into me. I probably wouldn't have DIED, but I would have ended up with some broken bones.
I encountered some baby snakes that could be venomous while cleaning up a house in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
I came pretty close to being swept away by the current at South Padre Island, despite the fact that I was a pretty decent swimmer. I had just turned thirteen, though, and wasn't very strong.
At the Navajo reservation in Arizona, I was almost attacked by a pitbull. That was terrifying.
Hmm. I didn't realize I had so many near-catastrophes! I'm only seventeen! Maybe I should never travel again.