Monday, July 18, 2011

Yesterday, I began a blog, expressing how there are times when I wonder if I’m making a difference.  If my existence amounts to anything.  Then there are days when the significance of my being slaps me upside the head, leaving no doubt if make a difference.  In yesterday’s blog, I shared how that had happened when my friend and I were put in the position to help a drowning woman at the beach.

I left off yesterday’s blog with my being on a 911 call to the local fire department.  The officer I spoke with asked a series of questions about the current status of the woman. I shared how she had been successfully removed from the water, her complexion a deep shade of blue, her not breathing.  My friend had turned her on her side and was smacking her back.  After what seemed like forever, the woman began coughing.  Salt water dribbled from her mouth at first, and then she began coughing up a lot of it—easily 16 ounces in all.

We were thrilled the woman was at least breathing, but disturbed that she hadn’t a clue who she was, where she was or why she was soaking wet, sitting on the sand.  Minutes passed.  In the meantime, one of the lifeguards had come over and taken control of the situation just prior to emergency teams reporting to the scene.

My friend and I slipped back, not wanting to crowd all that was going on the help the woman.  The reporting teams and lifeguard each did their jobs with caring precision.  Each minute that passed brought the drowning woman more into awareness of her plight. 

It was deemed that she had suffered a seizure and fallen in the water.  Being too large, her friend had been unable to extract her from the water or lift her head up high enough to keep the water from rushing over it.  The result…each time the seized woman drew in breaths of air, her lungs consumed more water.

By the end, the woman was able to stand on her own and was then transported to the hospital to be checked more thoroughly.  My friend and I faded into the background, each of us donning a smile that warmed us through to our cores.  It felt good to know that we’d done a good deed.  That we’d helped another who was in desperate need. To have reaffirmed that we do make a difference and that our existence amounts to a great deal.