I almost died last night

Last night I experienced the most horrific moment of my life.

I was at a pool party. I'm not a good swimmer, at all; I took lessons six years ago, but, because I was still scared of swimming (even by the end of the lessons when I could), I never swam again. Well, after six years, I guess it kind of eluded me.

I got on top of a floating couch (in the mid- to shallow-end), and began floating. One of my friends, who now wrongfully feels guilty, pushed it into the deep end, where I fell off. Here's the bad thing: no one noticed what had or was happening. As the slope of the pool floor pulled me further into the deep end (with several feet of water above me), I pushed with my feet from the bottom to the top, with only enough room to stick out my hand and wave it around in a desperate panic. I was in horrible panic, horrible. I was able to hold my breath only briefly. After that, water began to enter my mouth and lungs. Let me tell you something, you hear stories of people drowning and you feel imagine it would be horrible. Well, I could have never imagined a feeling so incredibly frightening. I thought I was dying. And, as cliche as this sounds, my life did flash before my eyes. I thought about my parents, brothers, friends, and my girlfriend. I thought my life would end that night. All I could do was keep jumping up and down.

Although my friends say I was conscious when they pulled me out, I know I wasn't, or at least not entirely. I have no recollection of being pulled out. One moment I was under water, the next I was lying face-up at the side of my pool, as my friends and girlfriend gathered around me. Fortunately, my friend Darcy, who's five years older than me, took some medical training in dealing with people in shock. I had never, until then, actually been in shock. It's not a pleasant feeling. I felt lost, confused, angry, embarrassed, disgusted, and, more than anything else, vulnerable. You never think that that sort of thing will actually happen to you, then it does.

I'm still freaked out.

Well, I'm gald you made it.

Maybe you should take some swimming lessons. You're never too old to learn.

i hope you held your "friend's" head under water for a good long while.

non swimmers should not even get in the water. it's like non drivers getting behind the wheel. you're just asking for trouble.

i agree with SUC though. lessons might be a good idea if you're making the pool party scene. glad you didn't die though.

BTW, GTF, I almost died this year too, so now we have something in common.

Glad you made it!! That had to be scary!!

Time to learn to swim for real. I didn't know how to swim until I was about 13. At the public pool, I jumped off the edge of the pool in the area labeled 4 feet; but like a retard, I jumped at an angle, out into the 6 foot area.Luckily the surface was still relatively flat here and I was able to jump up and forward, toward the shallow end, until I broke the surface. Like you, no one saw me either. I learned how to swim after that.

Glad you're all right.

Wow bro, that's scary!

Glad you made it through. As others have said, learning some basic swimming skills is vital. you don't have to be Greg Louganis, but it really is a useful or possible even necessary skill to aquire. :goodluck:

Glad to hear your ok

Don't die.

I am glad you are okay. But seriously, take some lessons, you never know (as you found out last night) when you will need to know how to save your life or someone else's. My father took me for swim lessons when I was 5 and I am sure as heck glad he did. Peace.

Glad you made it through bro.Do us all a favor and stay out of the water until you get some swimming lessons.

I didn't learn to swim until I was 14. I was terrified of the water (must of had a tramatic experience at some point) until my wanting to go to pool parties and running out of lame excuses why I couldn't go forced me to learn.

My advice would be to get a trusted/patient friend who is a good swimmer and have them help you learn to float, dog paddle, and tred water. Just the survival stuff first. Then go for the lessons. My experience with lessons was that it was great after you already knew the basics.

Of course I'm sure it'll take awhile for you to even want to get in another pool. Glad you're physically okay. Here's to your friends for pulling you out.

Glad your alright. When I was younger I didnt want to swim or learn how to for a long time, the way I ended up learning was when my dad would just throw me in over and over until I got comfortable with being in water without anyone helping me. Scary at the time, but I can swim decently now.

Sounds horrific. I grew up with a pool in my yard, as well as our many, many trips to the beach, so I've always been a swimmer. Never even thought about the possibility of drowning.

Glad to hear you made it. I almost drowned at a water park when I was young. It was a wave pool and I was in the deep end, I lost my grip on the side when the waves where at their highest and the next thing I know one of the lifeguards is pulling me out of the water after swallowing and breathing in what seemed like a gallon of water. Definatly one of the most scarry experiences in my life.

Glad you're ok. We learn to swim in school in Norway, starting in 1st grade. So my only bad experience with water wa after jumping og a diving board, then swiiming towards a light I thought was the surface, but after a while realizing that it was the lights at the bottom of the pool! Holding my breath that long was a hirrible task, but I made it back to the surfave just as I had to let the air out to breath in some fresh air.

Scary! Glad you are okay!

Quote :

We learn to swim in school in Norway, starting in 1st grade.

Mostb of us lrean that young here too. At least I did.

Must be contagious. I didn't almost die but I had a chainsaw graze my knee yesterday. That will make you piss yourself.