Why We Do it

A few days ago, three 200 pound men got caught in a rip. They were swimming about 5 miles away from the nearest life guard stand, and a 9-1-1 page out was issued for ocean rescue response. Yours truly was the first on scene, pulled two of them out, and the third was teetering on the border of unconsciousness, vommitting in the sand. I can't go into details about the rescue or what happened, but given a few more minutes, those men would not have made it.

I have never had someone look me in the eyes and tell me, "I thought I was going to die. Miss, thank you for saving my life. Thank God for you." I didn't know how to respond- after all, it was my job to pull them out, but as I looked at the hysterical wives and daughters, frantic onlookers, the tears, the hugs... The impact of our being there really hit me. That situation could have ended much differently; so many of us have seen the worst outcomes- but luckily, this rescue turned out to be just that- a rescue, and they'll leave corolla with happy vacation memories instead of remembering the beach as a place where they lost their loved ones.

The next day, one of the men I pulled came and found me on the beach. "thank you," he said, "from me, from my family. You saved my life." I, being awkward, try to make a joke, "well sir you're looking a lot better than you did the last time I saw you! Har har har!" (smooth, kristi). But he smiled and thanked me again, and then left to go play with his kids. And that, well that's why we do what we do.