Good reminder for all. Safety first.

Well, darn - you and I were awake at the same time. Great minds?

I don't x-c ski, but I'll welcome the season. Good reminder- thanks 

That's scary. I've heard too many stories like this to skip the life jacket. Glad you had yours. 

Life jacket. Get one and wear one, kids. Water doesn't play around. Glad you didn't die. People hear the "I almost drowned" exaggeration so much that they probably don't think that you actually almost drowned.

Wow - that would be super scary. And I can see how it is not funny. I suppose if you can use it for good to convince others to wear one then it may help you deal with what happened.

Wait.  What happened???  Are you okay?  I can't even imagine.  Who would joke about that?

That is terrifying.  Glad to hear the flashbacks are happening less. Hard to get kids to think about safety but I think your story might at least convince some of them.

That sounds so scary! I'm so glad you are ok. And I'm glad I wear a life jacket when canoeing on the Huron river around here even though a good portion of it is shallow (but then we always go out onto a lake so obviously not shallow!)

Hope you have a nice run in Lansing. And I'm sick of the humidity and summer-ish weather holding on, but also not ready for winter 

So glad you are ok! and no, that's never something to joke about.  

My ex prefers to kayak without his life jacket. I always remember my 4th grade water safety class and how quickly hypothermia sets in. Even during the summer, Puget Sound water is cold. Even my dog wears a life jacket when we take BF's boat out crabbing.  

I hear you on the stress thing. Running went out the window for me largely due to stress at home. Stress=Tired, Tired=No run, where is the Ben and Jerry's?  even when we know deep down that the run will help with the tired and the stress.  

I can understand why you're traumatized by the kayak accident. So glad you're here to tell the story and hope that by sharing it with us and others, you can take back some of your power. Hugs.

That's super scary. It's important that you share your experience with the kids ...when you feel like you can. Thanks for sharing with us! 

17 hours ago, Keep Running Girl said:

Wait.  What happened???  Are you okay?  I can't even imagine.  Who would joke about that?

It was in early July.  Canoeing on the fastest moving river in Michigan with class 2 rapids.  Those two things I did not know when we started out.  The boyfriend was the reason we went.  I didn't really want to go at all and had a bad feeling before we even left the bank.  I need to trust my instincts much more.  When we flipped (the first time) and the canoe overturned I went under it and got hit in the head by the side of it and also got a mild concussion so that didn't help matters but made it even more important I had a life jacket on.  Had he not been able to lift the edge of the canoe high enough to break the seal of the water and current holding the canoe on top of me, there was no way I would have lived.  I couldn't get footing because we flipped in a super deep hole and the current kept sweeping my feet out from under me.  Once he lifted the canoe enough, my life jacket popped me up far enough to get out from under it and he grabbed the front of my jacket and held on tight so I didn't go downstream with the current because I was gasping for air by then.  We still had well over an hour to keep going though to get to the car because it's a remote river and no way out.  Once I convinced myself to get back in the canoe, we also encountered a snake in a tree striking at me and we flipped a second time but that time there were 5 guys in kayaks along the shore to help us.  Horrible day.  Truly horrible.

19 hours ago, Speet63 said:

Life jacket. Get one and wear one, kids. Water doesn't play around. Glad you didn't die. People hear the "I almost drowned" exaggeration so much that they probably don't think that you actually almost drowned.

The only one I don't mind they believe the "lighter" side of almost drowning is my mom.  It's just better that way.  

2 hours ago, TreeGirl said:

It was in early July.  Canoeing on the fastest moving river in Michigan with class 2 rapids.  Those two things I did not know when we started out.  The boyfriend was the reason we went.  I didn't really want to go at all and had a bad feeling before we even left the bank.  I need to trust my instincts much more.  When we flipped (the first time) and the canoe overturned I went under it and got hit in the head by the side of it and also got a mild concussion so that didn't help matters but made it even more important I had a life jacket on.  Had he not been able to lift the edge of the canoe high enough to break the seal of the water and current holding the canoe on top of me, there was no way I would have lived.  I couldn't get footing because we flipped in a super deep hole and the current kept sweeping my feet out from under me.  Once he lifted the canoe enough, my life jacket popped me up far enough to get out from under it and he grabbed the front of my jacket and held on tight so I didn't go downstream with the current because I was gasping for air by then.  We still had well over an hour to keep going though to get to the car because it's a remote river and no way out.  Once I convinced myself to get back in the canoe, we also encountered a snake in a tree striking at me and we flipped a second time but that time there were 5 guys in kayaks along the shore to help us.  Horrible day.  Truly horrible.

Jeeze!  I can't even imagine. 

On 10/11/2017 at 4:16 AM, TreeGirl said:

I didn't really want to go at all and had a bad feeling before we even left the bank.  I need to trust my instincts much more.

oh yes.. the mountain climbers and the backcountry skiers and the whitewater canoeists all know this, trust the hairs on the back of your head.. if they are stirring it's time to quit and go to the coffee shop instead.

I'm so sorry for your experience, no fun at all.  

This is the stuff I used to paddle for fun, Skull rapid in Utah. My wife never likes the rapids with scary names. We paddled Widowmaker rapid on the Arkansas together once, after which she wanted to know why there wasn't a Widower-maker.. clear case of sexism..