On Nearly Drowning...

I love the beach, the sound of crashing waves, the smell of the salt water, the balmy breeze and the therapeutic feel of sand under my feet. But as much as I love the sea, I have a phobia for going into the deeper waters after encountering a near-drowning experience when I was 12 years-old, 40 years ago.

I was wading in the water together with my cousins, knee-deep one second, waist-deep the next and before I knew it, I was swept away and tumbled like a rag doll in the merciless waves. No matter how hard I swam, I was pulled farther and farther out to sea. The rest is a painful blur.... I remember the burning sting of salt in my eyes and nose....the bursting pain in my chest...a sense of helplessness going down, down, down .....the crippling fear.....thinking, so this is it, this is how it ends... praying hard......then....a strange sense of calm... surrender...

Suddenly, a head bobbed in front of me. It was cousin Li. I grabbed and clung desperately onto him. I don't remember what happened next. Everything seemed so hazy. But I do recall Li yelling furiously at me when we somehow reached the shore. He raved maniacally on and on about how I nearly drowned him when he was grabbed from behind and dragged under. I remember bursting into tears, trembling - not from his fury or the cold but from the shock of what had just happened. Miraculously, cousin Li who was only a year older than I and hardly a strong swimmer, had unwittingly saved my life.

Beached-themed cookies

Drowning is surely, a painful and horrifying way to go.

Have you ever almost drowned?