A Tragic Day In My Life

In 1979, on the 4th of July, my family was excited to take a camping trip to Raystown Lake in Pennsylvania. We  decided to camp on Corbin Island which is one of the three islands surrounding the lake. It is located  1/2 mile below the dam. The picturesque island was popular because it is a great place to camp, fish and picnic. 

 

My husband, father, mother, our 3 year old son Chris, and I drove to the lake in one car.  Following close behind in the other car was my uncle, Richard, my brother, Mike and the family dog. 

 

We arrived at the lake early Friday morning. My father transported all the belongings and everyone by motorboat to the island. It was quite an arduous task because of the torrential rain.

 

The relentless rainfall continued into Saturday morning. It was so disheartening to learn the weather forecast for the weekend was rain. So we decided to pack up and return home.

 

My father transported everyone back to shore.  The boat was small, so he had to make 2 trips. Richard, Mike and the dog were the first group to go. Then my mom, husband and I were the last group to go back to shore.

 

Meanwhile at the loading dock, Richard was packing all his camping items into the back of his car. Due to the continual rain, Mike, Chris and the dog had to take refuge in the old, rickety stationwagon, which was backed up to the loading dock. 

 

Unfortunately, my father had carelessly forgotten to close the back window of the stationwagon and the frisky dog jumped out of the car. Mike was in a panic about losing the dog. He frantically ran after the dog and completely forgot about leaving Chris alone in the car.

 

Chris, a very active boy, loved pretending he was the driver of a car. 

He excitedly climbed from the passenger's seat to the drivers' seat. He started spinning the steering wheel back and forth when suddenly he thrust the gear shifter into neutral. 

 

While Richard was loading his car, he heard shrill screams. He quickly turned around and saw people frantically waving their hands and pointing towards the water. 

Richard couldn't believe his eyes. The old stationwagon was quickly headed for the water. His heart sank when he saw Chris in the car moving the steering wheel back and forth. 

 

Even though fear gripped him, Richard knew he had to act fast before the stationwagon was completely submerged. He quickly rushed into the water and swam furiously towards the sinking car. The water was flowing into the car faster than usual because the window was left down. Richard knew he had only one chance to save Chris.

 

As the swirling water was surrounding him, he used all his strength to pull open the drivers door and grab Chris by his tee-shirt.

 

Then Richard held Chris tightly to his chest and swam back to shore. He examined Chris and was relieved to  see he had no injuries. He flagged down a big boat which was slowly approaching the loading dock. 

 

All throughout this time,  I had no idea what had happened.

 

My husband and I were returning back to the shore when a big boat was coming towards us. As the boat came closer, I noticed a small boy who was soaking wet standing next to a young couple. For a moment, I thought the boy looked like Chris. It can't be him. Chris is back at the loading dock with Mike. Then as the boat drew closer,  I realized the drenched boy was Chris. 

 

The young couple relayed a brief account of what had happened. My mind was in a whirlwind and I was in total shock and disbelief. Our boat was full so Chris remained on their boat while they drove back to the loading dock. 

 

When I saw Chris, my stomach was in knots. His little body was shaking uncontrollably. I grabbed Chris and held him tightly to my chest as tears were streaming down both our faces. I didn't want to let him go. 

 

Richard was visibly shaken.

 

He struggled to say the words, "I knew I had to act quickly. The water was halfway up the windows and the car was seconds away from being submerged into the water. If that had happened I wouldn't have been able to save him." Then he just sobbed and sobbed. 

 

The accident was a rude awakening to us. I thought something like this would never happen to me. Life is so unpredictable.  Chris was so close to losing his life. I am so thankful Richard was there and could save Chris.