Under the Water

It was 2006 when I almost drown. Every now and then when water splashes my face in the shower I can feel myself drowning all over again. That was so long ago that I thought it would resolved by now. Still, if water hits me in a certain way I feel like I'm under that water all over again. I was affected very much at first and I forgot about it for a while, but it came up in therapy a few years ago and now it's become sort of a problem for me. The worst part is I had dragged my mom down with me.

I wasn't ever fan of amusement parks. I easily got sick by motions. I missed a lot of school and couldn't go on long car rides because of this. I threw up at least a quarter of my dinners growing up. I got so trained that I would never miss. I would almost always make it to a trash can or bucket for me to throw up in. Still when my mom told me I was going to this one water park I was excited. I know I had fun, but I remember the day as a series of bad events.

I was scared to go down any real rides so we went to the wave pool. We stayed in the front of it so I didn't get pushed under by the powerful waves. I remember it as being fun. Then my mom and I went on the ride that nearly killed me. It was fun going down the slide part, I'm sure, but when I reached the bottom was a long drop into the cold water below. I didn't come up. At first I was pushed deep under the water where I think I almost hit the bottom and then I pushed my way back up.

I didn't learn to swim properly for a long time after this and even now I don't have the best motor skills. Apparently, I didn't crawl enough as a kid and now my motor skills are all messed up. I could switch a pencil from it's pointy side to eraser side with one hand for the longest time. And, I never learned to ride a bike. So I wasn't the best swimmer when I was pushed under that water. My mom had come down at some point as well and tried to save me, but I was pulling her under. Scared for my life I was trying to pull myself up.

The lifeguard jumped in and pulled me out first and then my mom was able to recover and swim to safety. I was alive, but very shaken up. I love swimming now so I'm not as scared as I was back then, but it still haunts me from time to time. I won't ever go on a water ride, or really any ride, every again though. Even now I'll get sick. Later that day I ended up hitting my head really hard and having the park nurse check me out. She said I was fine so my mom took me to Build a bear. I remember now, I had only agreed to go to this park if I got to go to Build a bear after! That's right. It was a scary event for me, but it turned out on top so I guess that's good. It just wasn't one of my days.