How I Almost Lost my Life in the Water

Seeing today's Hive learners prompt reminded me of a childhood encounter that almost made me lose my life.

This post is a response to the this weeks Hives learners prompt #THE SWIMMER .

Backstory

A little secret: I can't swim 😢. And I also have a phobia for water.

It all started from when I was child, I was about 10 years old, I and my family went on vacation to a hotel at Lekki.

I never knew how to swim but I often saw in movies how people effortlessly dive into the water, hold their breath and paddled their hands to float so I presumed I could do it without having to learn from a coach.

I dived into the water that day and drowned, the other people in the water were the ones that saved me.

The picture below is me when I was about 10 years old and the accident happened.

[ IMAGE IS MINE ] ☝🏼

Would I Survive If I Needed to Swim to Safety?

To be honest, if I were to find myself were I needed the skill to be able to save myself , I won't be able to survive the ordeal, whether a boat accident, flood, strong water currents; I would be helpless.

The fear grips me before I can even think logically. Sometimes, just standing close to the deep end of a pool makes my heartbeat louder than normal. Even bathing with eyes fully closed and water pouring down from my head triggers discomfort and I quickly clean off the soap from my eyes so I can see that I am fine.

Why Haven't I Learned to Swim?

I've actually considered learning multiple times.

Moreover, my talking stages always promise to teach me how to swim but the relationship tends to end before that promise is fulfilled, LOL.
Swimming is not only a survival skill; it's also good exercise, good therapy, and something everyone should know. If I knew how to swim as I child, I wouldn't have found myself in that endangering or life-threatening situation.

I guess what's holding me back is majorly the childhood trauma and deep-water anxiety. Questions like: what if a wave carries me away, or what if I start to drown again like before and there is no-one to rescue me this time around.

These thoughts build the anxiety and then I just run away from even trying.

Will I Ever Learn?

Honestly, yes, someday I will.

I strongly believe everyone should learn to swim at least to a basic survival level. I don't want fear to rule me forever. And I certainly don't want to be in a situation where a precarious situation or accident could have been averted just because I didn't learn this one life surviving skill.

For now, the fear beats my courage. But I'm working on it slowly, mentally preparing myself for the day I will finally dive into the water again, deliberately this time, and safely. LOL.