Literature
Jonathan's Big Swim
We were enjoying the marvels of Yosemite, two families, three cousins, two sisters and husbands, Ruth, Sandy, Roger, Jim, Jonathan, Kandy, and Christopher. The party had moved to a picnic area along the Merced River, with icy waters running through the park. We had moved to a picnic ground that was located on an elevated level that sloped gently to a flat, rocky shallow shoal about a hundred feet away. After the shoal the water got deeper nearer the picnic ground and swimmers could jump from the picnic area into a deep part of the river, about a ten foot drop.
At first we walked to the shoal and the kids began tossing rocks in the water. Jonathan, who was not yet three at the time, still in diapers, was having a great time with his two cousins Kandy and Christopher, who were five and six years old. We left them standing on the rocky shoal while we unloaded the car, set up the picnic table and began preparing food. Both Christopher and Kandy were fascinated with Jonathan, especially since his size made them feel like grownups themselves. We could see them throwing one rock after the other into the river.
We must have carelessly taken our eyes off the three children longer than we should, for what seemed to happen suddenly was that Kandy and Christopher were standing beside the picnic table and Jonathan was nowhere in sight. As panic and shock began to set in, time seemed to stand still. Jonathan was not on the shoal or anywhere else, and Kandy and Christopher appeared completely uninvolved and unsure why everyone was asking "Where is Jonathan?” Suddenly, through the trees someone pointed to a white object floating in the middle of the river, which was deep at that point but still rather swift with the object visibly moving down the river at a fair clip.
We all seemed paralyzed and confused, almost frozen, like in some kind of painting, until suddenly the air was filled with a scream that I have never forgotten. It was loud, guttural, horrible, anguished, terrifying, all the words cannot describe. Sandy's scream galvanized the entire picnic ground into action with everyone running to the water's edge. I began to wade into the water as the object, which now was clearly recognizable as Jonathan's diaper (with him in it) floating on his back passed by. Before I could resolve how to get to him, a complete stranger standing on the cliff dived head first, came up to the river's surface exactly where Jonathan was, and scooped him up from the water. He quickly swam to me and handed him to me as I stood in two feet deep water.
Jonathan was completely limp and seemed not to be breathing. Holding him face down with one hand under his stomach I raced to the shore and lay him on his back in Ruth's arms. Someone shouted "Does anyone know CPR?" Ruth began very calmly talking to Jonathan and soon he opened his eyes and began breathing. Within a few minutes he was almost normal.
We lay him on the car seat and thanked the universe for sparing our son. His rescuer came to the car and asked if he was okay. In the state of anguish I was in I could only express my thanks so much and I regret to this day that I was not alert enough to get the name of the young man who saved Jonathan's life. If some day this reaches that young man, I hope he will contact me again.
That night as I lay in bed in our cabin, I had finally come out of the state of shock, but neither Ruth nor I slept a single wink. The horror of seeing one's child floating down the river never leaves entirely.
We never learned exactly what happened that day; it all happened so fast. Jonathan remembers tossing a rock into the water and doing a somersault into the river. He believes that he simply held his breath from that moment until he was back on shore. This could have been no more that a minute, although it seemed like forever.