Accurate_String t1_iwg15th wrote on November 15, 2022 at 10:52 AM

Reply to comment by churninbutter in TIL about Deaf lifeguard Leroy Colombo, who overcame childhood paralysis through swimming and saved a record-breaking 900+ lives during his career. His swimming talent and use of sight rather than sound to identify drowning swimmers allowed him to save people other lifeguards would have missed. by lemontreelemur

I worked in the summers at a pool at a boy scout camp too. Only ever had to make one save. We were having a tournament of greased "watermelon" (expert it was a watermelon-sized mayo container partially filled with water). Anyways the round was over and all the kids were swimming back to the sides, except one. He was just dog paddling 2 feet away from the wall. Definitely not making a sound. He was literally right in front of me. And I just watched him dog paddle for awhile before I realized that he wasn't moving at all and that he was in the early stages of drowning. I quickly hit the deck and reached my hand out to pull him in, pretty lame as far as rescue stories go.

But it still struck me as weird that after all the training (and teaching) that I did, it took me so long to identify drowning when it was right in front of me, happening to a kid that I knew because he was in my home troop.