I almost legit drowned yesterday.

My friends and I went to visit the hidden wonders of the Tinipak River in Tanay, Rizal for a short weekend getaway. We were frolicking in the river banks when someone (aka ME) thought it would be a good idea to let the current of the river carry us across the stream.

It wouldn’t be so bad, right? I mean, you’ll just float and ride the rapids. What could possibly go wrong?

So I decided to go ahead and walk to the area between the rocks (where the water was constantly flowing) and jumped right in.

Nope, there was no ground to step on.
Nope, salinity was not on my side; I wasn’t buoyant enough.
Nope, threading is of no use. The undercurrent was just. too. strong.

So I did the next best thing and flailed and gulped a huge amount of freshwater. Repeat this fierce stupidity three more times.

I remember thinking, so this is how people die huh

But I snapped out of it. I CAN’T DIE HERE. I just can’t. Not this way. So I kicked off my sandals and held my breathe for the last time and just stopped flailing and panicking.

Luckily, the undercurrent felt my resolve and stopped pulling me down. I remained as steady as a log, and allowed the river float me back to safety.

Moral of the story: The first step to not dying of drowning is to actually choose to not die, and not let the water take you. The technical skills are merely secondary.