All My Strength

By: Amanda L. Scott

Witten for the Sept. 2024 issue of the Variant Training Lab Newsletter

A life and death situation that made me even more appreciative of the strength I have built at Variant.

When I dove into the water, it never occurred to me that I was putting myself in danger. I was diving in to save two little girls in the Santa Ynez River from drowning. The two girls had been playing near their mothers, in a shallow area of the river. It was a gorgeous day, warm and sunny, with people gathered along the water’s edge. I was there with my own mother and my two kids to get some much-needed sun. Everyone was happy, laughing and the kids in the water were squealing in delight.

There were people everywhere. And I noticed right away that the river was deeper than I’d ever seen it, clearly due to all the rain we’ve had. People were even diving into the deeper pools of water from large boulders. So, it was not clear at first what was happening when one little girl, around the age of 10, started yelling to her mother for help. I was searching for faces in the water, trying to locate where the yelling was coming from. I followed the direction of their mothers’ pointing arms and saw that the 10-year-old who was calling for help had another girl, around the age of 5, in her arms. Both girls were facing the shore, and the 5-year-old seemed to be losing consciousness. Her arms were out in front of her, her eyes were slightly open and then her eyes slowly closed as she laid her head back on the 10-year old’s shoulder. It was then that the mother started screaming for help.

I understood the girls were in danger, but what I didn’t understand at the time was that I was seeing the Instinctive Drowning Response. This is the body’s response to the sense of suffocation – an involuntary response of the autonomic nervous system. This response is seen when someone has either started to drown, or is very close to drowning, and it occurs about 20-60 seconds before the person submerges under water. This response is silent – the body is focusing on breathing in and out – there is no screaming. There is no yelling for help, which is confusing because this is not the image we see in the movies. This silence contributes to further endangering the person since they don’t appear to be distressed. The Instinctive Drowning Response is characterized by arm movements that are to their sides, or out in front, just at the surface of the water. They are quiet and usually lean their head back, like they might be rolling onto their back. Their legs may do a ladder climbing movement up and down in the water. During this response the person is incapable of acting rationally, does not respond, and they do not call out for help. Even after more than a decade as a primary care doctor, living in a seaside town and around pools and the ocean my entire life, I had never heard about this. Now, I will never forget it.

As this played out in front me, I made the split-second decision every mother runs through in her head countless times throughout motherhood, ready at a moment’s notice, to dive in fully clothed, to save a child. I dove in, thinking I could grab them and pull them to shore.

Unfortunately, it is also common for the would-be-rescuer to turn into the victim in this case. It’s so common that there is a saying when training lifeguards “Reach or throw, Don’t go!”. The person drowning instinctively grabs onto the person trying to save them, pinning that person under water, which can cause the rescuer to drown.

Instead of popping up above water and getting them to safety, I found myself trapped underwater, the weight of the two girls were on top of me and I was unable to get to the surface to breathe. The 10-year-old had her arm around my neck, hanging on for dear life. Face down in the water, I wasn’t able to lift my head out of the water. I wasn’t able to touch the bottom since it was too deep. I wasn’t able to swim away due to being in their terrified grasp. I wasn’t able to feel for anything around me that I could hold onto. I was in trouble. I suddenly realized I needed to push them off of me, so that I could breathe. I reached up with my arms and pushed them towards the shore with all my strength. I did manage to get my head above water at that point with just enough time to scream for help. But the girl grabbed me again and down into the water I went.

My strength underwater saved my life. My scream made it clear that I needed help and other adults ran into the water; they pulled the girls off of me. The next thing I knew I was coming up to the surface, gasping for air. People were all around us. I climbed out of the water. The little girls were safe in their mothers’ arms. I then sat down next to my own mother, and we just looked at each other – That could have been bad.

I have run through these events countless times since it happened and each time I pause at the moment when I used all my strength to push them away, just long enough to scream for help.

As I did my next workout with Sebo and the group the following Tuesday, I realized I was thinking about my work out differently that day. I felt like there was a new energy to my training – the sense that I was training for something more important than the workout itself. It felt so good to feel strong that day in the water – I was able to help the girls and get myself out of danger. I also recovered well, without any injuries. At almost 44, I feel stronger than I ever have in my life. I have always been a runner and considered myself generally healthy when I came to Variant at the age of 42, but I am honestly not sure I would have been able to do what I did that day without the strength I currently have. Thank you to all the trainers at Variant Training Lab. I share this story, not only to thank them, but to spread awareness about what drowning really looks like and to inform people about the correct and safe way to try to save someone who is drowning, so that they don’t put themselves in danger.

When I work out, I’m thinking about my health, my longevity – the ability to stay active and able as long as I can. But the same strength you are building at Variant trains you for unexpected events. Events that are not about the highest score, or the best time. You are training for whatever life throws at you. And when you walk away feeling strong, knowing it could have been so much worse, you will never look at training the same again

.