This was forwarded to us by CFJ trainer, Whit, who at present is working at a ranch in Wyoming for the summer. Its a great testimonial to not only the human instinctual desire to assist another in need, but the courage and determination to actually make the decision to do so. It's his conditioning, both mental and physical, that allowed him to accomplish, successfully, what he describes in vivid detail below:
I dont know why I did it. Prior to his entry into the river, the following events were completely unknown and unknowable, but within 5 feet into the current I looked at the spectators on the shore and said, "This guys fucked." Maybe it was the water, going from a 93 degree arid environment to a low 50s swift running river, maybe it was the two beers during softball that gave him the courage to enter a medium in which, at best, he had a mediocre level of confidence, maybe it was all or none of these things that instantly sent out signals that he was completely freaked out. At approx. 5'8 185lbs he certainly possessed the athletic prowess to handle himself in the manageable current. But within moments of my comment on the shore I was in the tongue of the river, swimming quickly downstream through the wave train to close the gap between myself and the rapidly devolving situation. Without the first three options of swiftwater rescue (Reach Throw Row) I had no choice but to go. Upon emerging from one wave I spotted him, paddling like a dog, yelping out help in an octave not normally heard in his day to day speech. He was panicking, diverting into a complete gross motor survival mode. Those on the jumping rocks were yelling at him to catch the eddy beneath them and get out of the current, but he only progressed in becoming more freaked out. I bellowed to him above the running river to look down stream, and something primal in his head registered my comment and the moment he diverted his gaze from me my arm was over his shoulder and I had saved myself from being drowned by his fear. Luckily we were approaching a shallow point in the river, where sediment and river rocks had been pushed together to almost form a dam. The water couldnt have been more than 2 feet deep, and as strong as I feel I am I knew there was no way I was going to drag a 185lb man against a river running at that pace. We only had about 4 feet of feasible real estate to stop before being swept into a more substantial current so as soon as I felt the first rock connect with my coccyx, I did exactly what you are not supposed to do, damn foot entrapment, I threw my feet out in front of me and attempted to self arrest us into the embedded river rocks beneath us. After sliding for a moment the rocks came to a firm halt and the power of the river diverted its wrath onto me. I knew that where we were it was possible to stand, I had been standing in our vicinity only one trip down the wave train earlier. But in my guest's panicked state he was completely useless, even with soothing comments and an attempt to slow his breathing, his acute stress reaction had completely rendered him ineffective. He continued to struggle splashing wildly, assumingly in an attempt to save himself, but my left arm firmly locked him into my chest as my right hand grabbed onto a submerged boulder and my feet wedged beneath me. I waited a minute or two to see if his senses would regain but it was useless, the only immediate chance at rescue was to keep arresting across the shoal until we hit a point where the water was so shallow he wouldnt be able to go any farther downstream. The beating of the rocks against my body as I continued to claw for my next arresting position was relentless and my passenger was far from compliant, but we held on and clawed our way across the shoal to salvation. Ironically, by the time we reached a point where further help was no longer immediately vital my coworkers arrived to help steady the man, now standing, as he made his way to shore. I dont know why but for some reason the first thing out of my mouth to my CrossFitting girlfriend, after of course the requisite Fight Club quote "We just had ourselves a Near Life experience!" to my fellow rescuers and my startled guest, was "for time".
At the gym we work and suffer, alone and together, through sadistic concoctions of exercises that all leave us feeling somewhat like masochists. The punishment inflicted upon us is at our own request, through our own volition. Every day we enter the gym we make a conscious choice to put ourselves into the breach, and to test our mettle. Some of us have the motivation of the mission, be it surviving patrol each night, coming home from the next call out, making it back from the upcoming deployment, or even those who have yet been tested and only bide their time preparing for when their training day will come. But I will put it on the line that the type of individual that is attracted to CrossFit is time again the individual that steps up when the moment presents itself, regardless of vocation. We unconsciously are preparing for the unknown and unknowable, the moment when we must again make the choice, to go or not to go. There is no functional exercise that I have yet to be exposed to with which I could have prepared specifically for this unfortunate occurrence. But, "Was I stabilizing my midline, keeping hamstring tension as I pulled against the current, forearm muscles burning from the grip on the river rock?" you betcha. Through CrossFit, I was able to obtain a level of General Physical Preparedness, GPP, that even gave me a shot at prevailing. It is this unknowable occurrence which we prepare our bodies for, but it is also the choices we make in partaking in each WOD which condition us mentally when the time comes to venture into the unknown situation. These unknowable moments are fluid, dynamic, unlikely and fleeting but our comfort in being in a position, mentally and physically, of discomfort allows us to overcome. I seek and wish for, NO recognition for any of my actions today, my CrossFit rest day, because I feel that none are warranted. I simply did what needed to be done and feel as if it was just another time on the board, deserving of nothing more than looking forward to the next WOD. And not surprisingly, I feel as if every individual I have the pleasure of suffering with at my gym and those who have endured alongside me within the broader CrossFit community would have immediately ventured into the same situation. It is because of this community, my trainers, and my CrossFit partners in crime that my guest will be able to eat dinner with his family tonight, and go for a ride on a horse tomorrow. It is because of this that I am proud to say, I am a part of the CrossFit community.
- Whit.
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