Close Call

Hello Everyone.
Katie wrote a longer version, but for now, I wanted to post just this-- We took a trip with friends to central Utah. There's a place with a swimming hole below a waterfall that we've been to before, in years with much lower runoff. We took the boys wading, and for a while we were the only ones there. Another family showed up with a couple of young girls- perhaps 12 years old or so. Within a few minutes of being there, one of them got caught in a current that pulled her toward the waterfall and sucked her under.

The chaos that ensued afterward is hard to describe. I saw her uncle looking around for help and trying to figure out what to do. Katie gathered the kids away from the water. I had remembered seeing a long branch or small trunk of a tree on the bank. I ran for it, and tried to reach to her from the bank. I got in the water to get closer, and at some point, I was sucked into the current as well. Much of the rest of what happened is both blurry and difficult to put in order. Both of us were eventually forced out of the current, face down, at the same time. I was told by others that I helped save her life. I haven't convinced myself of that. I do know that there were others who did save my life-- my friend Dustin, who pulled me out and breathed for me, and a pair of German doctors who showed up at just the right time. Perhaps we'll post more later, but for now, I just wanted to get a quick update posted.