My friend Jennifer and I took our little girls for a walk to the beach today. We started off on the steepier, sunnier side of the river cove near her house. Her one-year-old daughter had a life jacket on and enjoyed going in the water with her mom, and I sat on the bank with Rilla, just putting her legs in the water. There was a lady near us with a few young kids playing at the river edge. After a while it was too hot to not be in the shade, so we moved across the cove and spent some time in the water there. Jennifer offered to let Rilla wear her daughter's life jacket so that she could go in deeper with her, since Rilla was enjoying the water and wanted to be more immersed but I wasn't wearing a swimsuit. I thought about it but thought it would be an inconvenience to put the life jacket on. About this time, Jennifer's husband who had just joined us and was in the water said, "There's something wrong," and he began to swim across the cove. We watched from afar as a small crowd gathered. We could hear a woman sounding really upset but we couldn't tell what she was saying. Brett came walking back to us after a few minutes and said, "That boy just drowned." The paramedics arrived soon and we watched and prayed from across the cove. I couldn't hold back and so I went over and sat down with the woman who was wailing. It was the lady we had been sitting by before we moved to a different area. It had only been ten or fifteen minutes after we moved away that her grandson wandered too deep into the water and disappeared before she realized he was gone. She panicked when she didn't see him, and a few men went in after him and found him. I think they tried to perform CPR before the paramedics came. I went down and sat with the lady and prayed for her as she cried out to God and as the paramedics worked on the blue boy behind us. I don't know yet if they were able to resuscitate him. They took him by ambulance and I think they may have gotten a pulse. We recognized one of the paramedics as being a friend from our church, so we hope to find out later from him what happened.
I haven't been in a lot of situations like this one, but when I am, it's like I am compelled to comfort. Just to sit and be with and intercede for the people involved. Like the forty or so people standing around at a distance and watching all this, I felt totally overwhelmed and chaotic inside when this all started. As we prayed, though, it was like I just couldn't stop myself, I had to go over and be with this lady. I figured she could hit me if she wanted me to go away, but I had to go over there. Rilla was quiet and calm in my arms despite the deep wails coming from the lady as we sat with her, and I was glad for that. The Lord was present and I am glad that I was there in those desperate minutes before they all left for the hospital. Still, Jennifer and I couldn't help but wonder later what would have happened if we had still been nearby when the boy drowned. I have a peace about it, that we were in the right places when we needed to be, but I am shocked and quieted to realize how fragile life is. This boy was probably four or five years old, and I said hi to him while he was playing, and just a short while later he wandered in too deep and drowned. Among other things, I am stunned by my own stupidity at thinking there was no need for Rilla to have a life jacket as we take her in and out of the water this summer. I went and bought one after we left the beach and I am pretty sure I will be erring on the over-cautious side with her for quite a while after this.
It is the Lord who gives breath and life. I am confident of this and confident of His timing and goodness. I know He can bring good out of this. Please pray for this family. Pray for the grandmother, the mother, and the sister who were all there this afternoon. Pray for this little boy. And if you plan to go swimming tomorrow like we do, please oh please oh please put life jackets on your children.
UPDATE: The little boy is alive and expected to make a full recovery. Praise the Lord!
Comments (12)
oh dear.
Praise God! I"m so happy he's ok. That story really shook me for some reason. You are a great comforter.
wow
Wow, what an incredible story. Praise the Lord that poor little boy lived! What a relief that will be for he grandmother. ANd the pix at rendevous are so cute! So Idaho, huh? So funny. Totally a subculture! W miss you guys! Happy 4th!
Praise God. I am so glad to hear that.
wow. Praise the Lord he is okay. What a story.
PRAISE GOD!!! I WAS TELLING MY SIS THIS STORY AND I JUST NOW CHECKED BACK TO MAKE SURE HE WAS OK!!!!!!!!!!
OHHHH! My heart aches for that poor grandma! I'm so relieved that the boy is alive!
Praise God that he is okay! We had an experience this weekend where I pulled a little boy about Aneliese's age out of the water (he was ok, just needed to cough a lot of water out) and it was very upsetting.
wow, i'm happy the boy is okay. It's good of you to go sit down near the grandmother of the boy. I'm sure a lot of people were staring and it can't feel good to be a part of the show. She probably needed somebody there for her and her grandson.
Wow. I felt a little chill reading your story. The fragility of life...I don't know that we really grasp that at all until we are there, in the middle. I found myself wondering later what I would have done in that situation...being the grandmother....being one of the crowd. It seems that your instinctive actions were a comfort to her in her distress.
Praise the lord! I almost missed the bit where you said the boy was alive...it was a relief to read.
I often worry about the people I love. I see unexpected deaths at work, and it has really effected me. I even get teary when I think about the possibility of losing Dan- he could be driving into work, and get hit, and he'd be gone. Just like that. It scares me.
When I was still in school, a young woman's fiance died. You could hear her screaming in the hall. It was awful, and I had nightmares.
I'm so proud you went and sat with her. Maybe God was reaching out to her through you.