People Who Have Saved Someone’s Life Are Sharing Their Stories, And My Heart Is Racing

3.

“I piggybacked a little boy (about 6, I had so much adrenaline, I barely remembered my own name, much less his exact age) across a river during a sudden thunderstorm/building flash flood. I was walking my dog along the river trail, and the kid had run away from his parents (tourists) and gotten stuck on the opposite bank. I spotted him crying on the other side of the river as I was trying to leave the trail and get away from the water. I grew up playing in that river during snowmelt/mud season. I knew the easiest place to cross from where he was, and I just, I don’t know, my maternal instincts have always been vicious.”

“I didn’t think about the lightning or my bad joints (I have EDS); I didn’t really think, period. I walked parallel to the current to him, calmed him down as quickly as I could to get him out of there and on my back, and trucked back across. My dog was only about a year old at the time, with separation anxiety. He’s 75lbs of pure muscle, so I didn’t want to waste time trying to tie him to something when he’d probably rip free and follow me anyway, so he came back and forth with us, too. It’s all kind of a blur; it was about four years ago. I remember waiting for his family at the post office, and that I was wearing brand-new pants — totally impractical silk pants with a moon pattern that I was too excited about getting to be reasonable about wearing in the mud. We all survived, though, including the pants. I still have them!”

—EstuaryOrange