Well it’s about time. I can’t remember the last time any arm of the main stream media reported on good news on the front page (well, the headline on the internet page anyway). This morning’s happy surprise was brought to us by none other than the good ‘ole staple of southern liberal living: the AJC (That’s Atlanta Journal and Constitution for those not in Ga.)
This story is close to my heart for many reasons, one of which is that I live just a few miles from the high school that these boys attend. Since the AJC online requires a registration, I’ll copy the important parts…
It was nearly dusk on Florida's San Destin Beach, with red flags warning of rip currents, when a woman approached three Centennial High School seniors and asked them to help her boys get back to shore.
The young men, Kyle DeLapp, Steven Gartner and Hooman Nourparvar, all 17, were playing Frisbee on the beach on the first Saturday in April as part of a spring break trip. They looked out beyond the breaking waves and saw four kids, three boys and a girl ages 9 to 12, according to interviews.
Although they had not planned to swim that day because of the warning flags, the Centennial classmates stepped into the water without a thought to the danger they were walking into. Two of them, DeLapp and Nourparvar, had training in water safety.
As the three teens walked toward the kids in the cold, choppy water, they discovered a steep drop-off just as they reached them. The younger children had begun to scream for help. The older boys realized the rip current was quickly sweeping them all out to sea.
Doesn’t it do your hearts good to know that there is still courage and self sacrifice in teenagers these days? Let’s put the scene together so you can see what I’m seeing:
This is dusk on a beach where people (except three brilliant little kids) are not swimming because of rip tide warnings. I’ve been to Sandestin many times and I know the currents there are nasty. And when the currents are nasty the wind usually is too. So you’ve got a beach with not a lot of people, sketchy lighting and weather, and three high school kids playing frisbee. Why am I pointing this out? Because it illustrates just what happened on that beach. The three boys were asked to help, to put themselves in a very dangerous situation, and did so without thought. There were no bikini clad hotties looking on to pump up their need to perform stupid and dangerous stunts, there were no cameras to record their deeds and make them famous for 15 minutes, it was just one scared mother, asking for help.
Anyone living on this end of the country (and I’m sure in other places as well) who goes to the beach is familiar with the concept of a ‘rip tide’ or current. They get particularly nasty with spring and fall tides in the Gulf and have the ability to sweep hundreds of people five miles out to sea in a matter of minutes. So these boys probably knew what waited for them in that water, but they went anyway.
Sheesh, doesn’t it sound like I’m sycophantically waving my arms here? Maybe I am, but I’ve been in these situations before, several times actually, and I’m just impressed that there are still some kids left in this generation who have the stones to act when called upon.
Maybe there is hope for America’s future yet.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Warning, soundings show decreasing depth in this direction...
Posts
7 comments:
Well how in tarnation does the story end? Were the kids saved? What happened to the teenage boys??? Don't leave me hangin this way!
I grew up with kids like that in a seaside village that was notorious for it's rip-tides and shark attacks. I'm glad to hear that there are still some real young men around.
Oh, sorry about that! The young men helped their screaming victems swim parallel to the beach (just like they teach you in swim rescue class) and they made it back to shore in about 20 minutes. The beach rescue teams were there by the time they walked out of the water and everyone was fine.
Just a rare happy ending I guess.
Whew! I figured the story had to end well since it was good news, but everytime I read about people wading into the water to fish someone out, it turns out badly.
Indeed. I think that's another reason I wanted to share this one, because the boys did what they learned was the right thing, and it saved not only the save-ees but the save-ers. I'm pretty close to this type of this as I've said before, my parents had close friends who died after being carried out by a rip, and I've been on the beach when they've hit on a massive scale. Its just nice when everybody makes it out alive.
Oooh, I love a happy ending!
Post a Comment