Years ago I covered a most heartbreaking story – the double drowning of two secondary school students.
Three lives could have been lost had not for the level-headedness of the third boy in the drama.
The teenagers were on school break and a group of them went for a day of frolicking at a Christ Church beach. All was going well when they ran into difficulties and found themselves farther from shore than they were capable of handling.
The alarm went up.
Three friends were trapped at sea. One disappeared under the water. That caused another to panic.
The third youngster, a scout, pleaded with his friend to tread the water and hold on – that help would come.
Beach-goers had already alerted a visitor, a strong swimmer, who raced into the water.
By the time he reached the area where the three friends were he found one calm youngster and a frantic one who was going under.
The rescuer instructed the remaining young man what to do and he diligently did it. That young man later told me that as a scout he had been taught not to panic in dangerous situations. He followed instructions and held on to his rescuer, releasing him when he was told to do so.
The rescuer, whose name eludes me, also spoke about the rescue and how easy it was since his young charge did exactly as he told him. When he became tired and instructed the teenager to release him, he did. Not once did the youngster panic and he listened, the man said.
The result was that the scout survived.
He was among a fortunate few who survived a near drowning, which sometimes becomes a feature during school breaks.
The incident came back to me over the weekend as I was preparing for a daredevil of an assignment. Panicking can create life and death situations or turn an innocent situation into a major problem.
Almost all of the members of this particular group assured me that as long as I followed instructions, I would be safe. Lean when
I am to lean, hold on at a particular angle and keep my focus.
Panic, one of the fellows explained, is the cause of major problems. The assignment will be revealed in time but the principle of not panicking applied.
One member, also a scout, with a love for both water and land activities, was particularly instructive.
In the water, he said, you will do one of two things, sink or float, you chose.
Panic will lead to the former.
There is no need to allow fear to consume you. You are to overcome it but not to the point of being reckless.
It is break time from school and the roads and beaches are filled with young people seeking fun in one form or another.
Taking to the road on bicycles or heading to the beach are two activities which are automatic at this time.
They are so much a part of some youngsters’ lives that they fail to heed certain warnings, confident in a misplaced sense of being invincible; immortal even.
That false sense of security can lead them to bring harm to themselves or to others.
Use the roads with care and the beaches wisely.
• Antoinette Connell is the DAILY NATION Editor. Email antoinetteconnell @nationnews.com
