After eight years rafting down the river as part of our annual family vacation, "going down the snake river" has new meaning for us. It used to mean laughing and having fun rafting down the river. However, now it means "going down IN the Snake River."
When we got to the river to launch the raft the buzz story was how a scout leader drowned in the river yesterday. Apparently, he was thrown from the raft, dragged by the undercurrent to an eddy which held him down, and he drowned. Needless to say everyone on our raft took extra care. However, the first run down the river was fierce. The water was very high with very strong and dangerous undercurrents and numerous eddies. Even with the extra care and caution, if you ask the children, they will tell you they were scared beyond measure. (Remember, we've been going down this river for eight years, but this was worse than any other time!)
After lunch some in the group did not want to go down again; that is until they felt fully recovered from the first river run experience. (Yes, it really was that bad!) Well, seven others wanted to take a second run--a run that ended up disastrous and near fatal for more than one of them.
I was not on the raft. Thirty minutes after they launched (3:00 p.m.) I got a feeling that something was wrong and all I could do was wait--wait to see if they made it down the river, wait for someone to tell me there's been a problem, etc... At 3:30 Sammy comes running toward me panting, out of breath, screaming that the raft capsized. I'm getting bits and pieces of what happened in between her short breaths. And what I heard wasn't good at all.
Samantha (the self-titled heroine of the story) popped to the surface and grabbed two oars and the raft, spotted a dead tree sticking out in to the water (it was much closer than shore), directed Coltin to swim with the raft to the dead tree. She secured herself to the dead tree with one arm while holding the raft with the other. She took in a lot of water. She saved the raft from floating away. But there is much more of her story yet to be told...
Coltin (friend) came up to the surface close to the raft, he grabbed the rope, saw Sammy's head bobbing in the water, was in the process of helping her when he realized she too was holding on to the rope. He helped Dylan and Melissa on to the dead tree.
Dylan followed Richard's advice on how to get out of an undercurrent and shot up to the surface rather quickly; an oar smacked him in the face; he grabbed the raft rope; he saw an orange blob, which ended up being Melissa, and stuck an oar out to her and pulled her in to him and they swam to the dead tree. He lost his hat and his glasses (He is almost legally blind without his glasses.)
Melissa (friend) came up to the surface holding an oar and grabbed another one floating by. She couldn't see because water got in between her contacts, but she was able to see a blue blob which was an oar that Dylan used to reach out to her. She said later that if Dylan didn't do this, she probably would have been sucked into the next rapid and down the river.
Meghann wasn't just thrown from the raft, she was shot out. She landed further away from the raft, but luckily she held on to the lead rope and was able to pull herself to the raft then to the dead tree. She helped Samantha and the others on to the dead tree, secured the raft, and started calming everyone down.
While the five were clinging to the dead tree another raft came and helped them to shore.
Wait a minute. I told you there were seven people on the raft. Where are the other two? Well, that's exactly what the five were thinking. They were frantically calling out and searching the water for Stacey (friend) and Jeff. The Guide on the other raft asked them, "Where's your family?" They answered, "Two are missing." It was at this point they saw Stacey on the other side of the river on the bank shaken but safe. The Guide then asked, "Is one of them a guy?" "Yes" was the unanimous reply. It was then that they learned that another raft had picked up Jeff and was bringing him to where they were.
Now to tell you about Jeff and Stacey.
Stacey was thrown quite a distance down the river and traveled down river until Clint (friend in a ducky) pulled her out of the water and took her to the closest shore. She was able to rest here until Clint and Slade (friend) tied their duckies together and took her to the opposite shore to the rest of the group.
Jeff, well, he almost didn't make it, and I'm not sugar coating it. Right now I am glad I am not a widow! Jeff was also thrown quite a distance down river and into the next rapid. He told me that he went under more than eight times, the last time he said he saw lights, couldn't breathe, and all he could think about was if everyone else was safe. His friend Slade was frantically searching the water for him, couldn't find him anywhere. Finally, he saw Jeff bob up then down again, and was able to grab him the next time he bobbed to the surface. He got Jeff to shore where Jeff passed out for a few minutes. A raft then picked him up and took him to where the other five were.
The five (Stacey wasn't with them yet) decided that Jeff didn't look well--definitely not well enough to finish the river run! I now get to finish the "Samantha part of the story." Here they were stranded on the shore and the only way out (besides the water route) was to climb up the mountainside to the road and somehow get help. Sammy was chosen for the task. I haven't asked why, but she climbed the mountain with the six oars they were able to save and her life vest in hand. God only knows how she managed to do that. Once at the road, she left the oars and vest and started running the three miles to the campsite. She had taken in so much water while in the river that she had to stop and vomit a couple of times, but she continued running on. About a mile or so from camp a Park Ranger stopped her and asked her what was wrong--why she was running. He then drove her the rest of the way to the camp where she and her Aunt Donna got in the car to get me and Richard at one of the river look-outs. We then went down the road to where the others were stranded down the mountain. She jumped out of the car and ran back down the mountainside to be with the others.
Richard ran down to them, and with his vast knowledge of emergency medicine proceeded to make sure everyone was all right. He then assisted in getting raft and people to the top. Donna and I stayed on the roadside doing whatever we needed to do to assist in the rescue.
Doug (Stacey's husband) was already there and helping when we arrived. Apparently he got worried when he didn't see them on the river at the look-out where he was waiting, so he drove the road looking down at the water and by chance saw them stranded on the shore.
It took some effort and a lot of team work to get everyone and the raft up the mountain.
Back at camp Richard listened to everyone's heart and lungs. However, we were all worried about Jeff. He had taken in so much water, gone under so many times, and passed out for a few minutes I wanted to take him to the hospital for monitoring. (There is a high incidence of heart failure within 24 hours of survivors of near fatal drownings and the likelihood of respiratory infection.) However, he didn't want to go, so Richard monitored him closely for a few hours and we compromised that he would go to the Doctor when we got back to Logan. I was also concerned about Samantha--she nearly drowned, she climbed a mountain, ran for help, ran down a mountain, etc...--her energy was completely spent she started shaking.
We are now back in Logan and Jeff still can't take a deep breath without coughing. Sam seems to be doing well, but I am taking both of them to the Doctor in the morning!
Good News for all Powell-land... The King Still Reigns!
