Lifeguarding

Saving a life is an incredible experience and is it one that I will never forget. About two years ago, I got my first job at a water park as a lifeguard. After two weeks of work, I was quickly promoted to a level two lifeguard, and as a level two lifeguard I in charge of higher risk swimmers. It was a little less than a week later that I saved someone’s life from drowning. Even though I do not clearly remember the whole day, I do remember watching the man panic in the water, saving the man from drowning, and how I was feeling afterwards.
One of the things I remember vividly about that day was watching the guy drown. It was a Saturday afternoon, and I had been on my shift for no more than one hour. The day seems like every other day, people walking around and enjoying themselves, so nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That day I was working on the cauldron, a slide that drops anyone who is riding 3 stories down incredibly quickly into a 15 foot deep pool. I was at the bottom of the slide telling people where to go, and how to get out. Suddenly I could hear someone yelling louder than usually and panicking nonstop. It was at that second that a man dropped into the icy 15 foot deep pool. I could remember the man not coming up for air as several seconds pasted by, and I was starting to worry and wonder. After a few second, the man came up, but not like most people. He was waving his arms franticly and screaming, as he tried gasping for air. It was at that second that I knew he was drowning. The only thing that ran through my mind at the instants was, I need to jump I and save him before it is too late. What I was hoping to be a normal day actually turned out to be a day that I would never forget.
Watching the guy drowning wasn’t the only thing I remember clearly, what I remember most of all was actually saving the person from drowning. After noticing that the man was really drowning I quickly realized that I need to jump in and save him. So I blew my whistle, signaling to the other lifeguards in the area that someone was drowning, and rapidly jumped in with my rescue tube. The man was heavy around a hundred more pounds than me, and was starting to sink to the bottom of the pool. As I jumped in, I hastily drove into the water and wrapped my arms around his chest, and brought him back to the surface. My rescue tube was on the top of the water and he instantly grabbed onto it to keep from sinking to the bottom again. Afterwards, I pulled the rescue tube back edge of the pool, and we both go out. Everything that happened, happened in an instance. The man later thanked me, and everything quickly returned to normal.
How I felt after everything happened, is the major reason why this is so important to me. After the man walked away, I felt important. I felt like I have never felt before. It was a feeling that made me feel great, as if I actually did something special, and actually affected someone else’s life. Whatever the feeling was it was great and I liked it. The rest of that day is still a blur, and I only remember bits and pieces. But the whole day in general is one I will never forget.
How I saved the man all happened in a flash. From watching him drown, to actually jumping in the water and pulling out all happened so quickly but is still in my memory today. The experience of saving someone’s life is great, and especially the feeling you get afterwards. The first time I saved someone from death is something that is significant to me and is something that is extremely important to me.