In our travels out west, my grandpa and I had planned on driving from Yellowstone out the south entrance and then go through Boise to visit my cousin Jeff and his wife sweet mom100 and their kids. I was so excited to see them and it was great to pull in there in our car that had driven all the way from Michigan out there. sweet mom100 had told me that Jeff wanted to know if I would want to go tubing down a river and I said sure.



So later in the evening before dinner (after Jeff bought some new inner Tubes), we all packed them in teh van and drove about a mile through his neighborhood to the local elementary school and we got to the river. Now we didnt think anything of the river, it being in a neighborhood. We didnt even really contemplate and about 5 adults didnt even suggest to take life preservers. This turned out to be a costly and scary decision.



So we get into the river and this river is ice cold, but eventually after many screams like a girl, I got used to it. And we were on our way down this sweet and fast river. We went through one crazy set of rapids and yet I didnt think much of it. I still didnt think the kids would ever be in harm. But the next thing we hit was a little small waterfall. No big deal there. I was having a super great time and it was a bit of a rush going through this.



We hit another major set of rapids. And this time there were larger boulders in the way and a large turn that you had to make. This time I was very concerned for the kids and somehow I got out of my tube and stood at the corner where there was extreme dips and curves and I waited for Jeff and the kids to make it through. Surprisingly they were fine so I attempted to get back into my tube and continue. This was very scary for me because of the wicked current and I basically almost nailed a boulder as I dipped in and out of the rapids.



We all still had lots of fun but we had been on the river for about 30 minutes and were looking for this wooden bridge at which we would walk home. As we went under this one bridge we still joked with the kids and said that there were spiders and snakes that hang from it. They were very scared at that, but they were having loads of fun on the rapids.



As we veered out and saw the third set of rapids. These looked horrendously bad and I began to get very worried as Jeff's innertube (of which he had been holding his son Noah the whole time who cant swim) had been leaking air. sweet mom100's brother was very smart and somehow (albeit difficult) got to the side of the river and climbed up the cliff and let us go in the rapids. I decided to stay near the kids because I knew if one of them flipped, it would be very bad and surely the most dangerous situations of all of our lives.



Sure enough, Jacob's tube flipped and Jeff attempted to recover Jacob. He kind of did, but eventually all three went in. Instinctively I jumped in the moment I saw they were in trouble. Somehow the river pushed them from behind me on the right to in front of me on the left. I think I was swimming against the river to help. Jeff was struggling for air as adults couldnt touch bottom as well as he had two children in his arms. Everything went so quickly, but the one image I had was Jeff, Noah and Jacob all going under the river. I dont recall if I grabbed one, or if he tossed one too me, but all I saw next was a red haired boy who didnt look like he was breathing. I got to "shore" (basically a barren cliff) and threw the red haired cousin of mine on a large flat rock. He slipped a bit as I attempted to regain breath. He had a bloody nose, but thankfully he didnt need CPR. I saw that Jeff made it to the side as well and we asked if we were all okay. We then all decided to get to "saftey", by climbing these cliffs. This was not an easy task. I remember my feet killing me and my thigh was not working right because it got busted up. At one point, I told Jeff I would help him on the other side and I left Jacob on cliff and got up top to pull the little one up. Then Jeff starts yelling at Jacob because he was losing his balance and this was the most scared I had ever been. I totally thought after all of this that he was going to fall a horrible death back into the river.



So I ran over there. God I was stupid for leaving him, but I thought he would be fine hanging in there. I got him to safety and eventually I think Jeff made it up by himself. We all got up there to the top and I hugged Jeff. Eventually he left to go find Michelle's brother and it took him about 5 or 10 minutes. I just stood there with the shivering boys and held little Noah up on my shoulder and kind of hugged Jacob as well. I was soo relieved they came out unharmed. I got back to the house by riding piggyback on Jeff because the grass was very sharp on your feet.



We told sweet mom100 about it and kind of brushed it off, but eventually we told her the whole story and just how much danger all of us were in. That night Jacob just cuddled with me and we chilled out watching King Kong. When you are in second grade, this type of experience can really make you think. I think when I was about Noahs age I "drownded" and my brother helped me out and I still remember it vividly.



After I got back from my trip, Jeff and sweet mom100 sent me a package containing some sweet new sandals from Old Navy and a cool new hat to replace the ones I lost in the river. She says "we will never let them forget their hero David and what you did. It makes my heart swell." It makes me feel soo good to be in right place at the right time. This could have been the biggest family tragedy. So until next time.....