“Survival Lessons are an investment in time and money, but they are worth every penny!”
“Last Friday, May 10th, 2013, it was about 85 degrees outside, so as a family we decided it would be fun to sit by the river for a bit. We had done this before and enjoyed it.
We live near Oregon City so we went to a small cove in the river near the Oregon City High Rocks on the Clackamas River. The Clackamas River runs at about 50 degrees this time of year. It is chilly water and we didn’t have
any intentions of going in the water beyond our ankles.
I decided to show paisley how to throw rocks into the river. She and I were both
out in thewater about ankle deep throwing away next to each other.
The river, being spring, was still a little bit murky and I couldn’t see that just
beyond where we stood that there was a drop off in to the river. To me, it appeared
there was a ledge that extended out further. Still standing next to Paisley,
I turned my back for no more than 2 or 3 seconds, and when I turned back, Paisley had stepped out just a bit further in to the water and had slipped under the water and had
fallen in over her head. It happened in an instant and she hadn’t made a sound.
My heart raced! I quickly moved in to pick her up and noted she had already
turned over and was floating on her back fully clothed in her t-shirt, leggings and tennis shoes by the time I grabbed her.
Thankfully her two years of survival safety training from Swimbabes(tm) kicked
in an emergency situation! Paisley cried and said “Mommy! That was scary!”
It scared me too. I just couldn’t believe how fast and how silently it happened.
This week, Paisley went back to her swimming lessons and couldn’t wait to get in and swim again.
While the situation scared her in the moment, she quickly recovered with the skills she had been taught at SWIMBABES(tm) and knew how to handle herself in a very scary moment. Survival Swimming Lessons are an investment in time and money, but they are worth every penny!”
Molly Shaw
** SWIMBABES note: We applaud Molly’s consistency and commitment to Paisely’s survival swimming lessons! She took the time and effort to make sure Paisley had life saving skills in place in case she ever fell in the water.
Paisley has been in lessons since she was 5 months old and has been a consistent year round swimmer. She just turned 2 and can now swim the width of the pool; but when in an emergency situation knew to get on her back and float.
Paisley learned how to turn over and float at age 8 months and could float fully clothed for 5 minutes at age 12 months. And, like all SWIMBABES, practiced her emergency skills at every lesson.
While Molly was standing right next to Paisley and ready to grab her, we recommend that all children wear life jackets when around open water, regardless of swimming ability. Open water can have unseen dangers that aren’t presented in a pool situation such as unseen drop offs, undercurrents and snags.