It was the beginning of October and my third month of being a certified lifeguard at Great Wolf Lodge. Tuesdays were typically slow with only about 20 guests in the whole water park. I was at a normal guarding rotation, scanning the same water for 45 minutes and then rotating to the next pool. Switching to the next pool, the catch pool, three slides ended and a rapidly moving current and turbulence guided its riders to the nearest exit. Then it happened.

One long whistle, I hit the emergency stop on the slides, the water stopped moving and so did he. I jumped. My supervisor Darrin was face down in the water, lifeless. I wrapped my arms around his chest, plunged the rescue tube forward and thrusted us backwards onto the tube. His head backward, his airway was opened and he began to breathe normally. Brian, my other supervisor, was watching closely off the edge, scanning the water and my every move. He helped me out of the water and said “Good job kid, you got an exceeds.” I had been audited for the first time that night and passed, just to make sure that on slow nights I would be able to find a guest in distress within ten seconds and save them in less than twenty.

Oct. 29 I was at the same guarding spot, the catch pool, scanning my water as usual. Step one, two, three and look back, downward head sweep, repeat. The orange slide is the fastest at Great Wolf Lodge so most people fall off their tubes when they shoot out of the slides. But this time it was different.

An older man around 70 came out from the slide, hit the water and began to drift back. He must have slipped on the bottom of the pool, right? Everyone slips here. He’ll be fine. Okay Brian, this isn’t funny anymore. Come out so I can see you. Please just be another test.

It wasn’t. The man’s face turned from rosy pink to a pale blue. He lost his breath and couldn’t get on his feet. Farther and farther he drifted away. My heart stopped and I blew one long whistle, hit the emergency stop and jumped in. If you don’t know, go. It’s okay to just go and jump in even if it ends up being nothing. I had my arms wrapped around his body in seconds about to pull him onto the tube, and by some miracle the wind that was knocked out of him returned. He was near the edge and pulled himself out. Before I could say a word to him, he said “Thank you honey, I truly appreciate you jumping in to save my life,” and left. In a matter of seconds he could have died and it would have been my fault.

Now I may not have had to perform a complete emergency rescue for that old man, but thinking about it I’ve never been so thankful for the way anything worked out. I never would have expected a lifeguard test that I thought was annoying and pointless to prepare me to jump in for an old man’s life. Emergencies do happen and being prepared for any possible scenario makes difficult nerve racking situations come at ease. Life can end in a second and it’s better to be safe than sorry.