To begin with, I and my friends had a post-celebration for my birthday and we decided to go to Ocean Row Beach Resort in Real, Quezon. This is one of the best celebrations I had because they spent the time to celebrate my birthday. It only took a couple of days for the preparation and we know for a fact the resort we have checked in with is known for surfing because of its big waves.
March 27, 2018 was the day we decided to depart from Manila at exactly 4:00 AM. It took longer than usual for the travel time from Manila to Real Quezon. Everything went well on the first day, nothing bad happened. We arrived in the resort around 8:00 AM in the morning. Preparing food was part of the excitement we had in the said resort.
It’s a boodle fight time, we enjoyed eating because we were so hungry. One of the best parts sa barkada is chill time. Siesta then chill konti. Time runs so fast kaya after makapagpahinga ng konti we went to the seashore to take pictures and swim. Waves were not that strong to pull us far. Thereafter we ain’t stop having fun and that we played volleyball for an hour. We were tired but had fun. Just so you know sand is light brown but is fine.
Dinner time would be a reason for us not to feel the tiredness in playing volleyball. We bought Lambanog and planned to drink it after dinner, but what happened was we took a nap instead and never been aware of the time. It was a long night to not make the most out of it, but were so exhausted and just wanted to lay down. The coldness of the wind wouldn’t be the reason to awake, “pero grabe bes mas malamig pa din ang hangin kaysa sa pagmamahalan nyo”.
We woke up early in the morning for a reason of wanting to see the sunrise, but the sun never showed up “parang ung pagpapaasa nya sayo”. The check out at the resort supposedly around 9:00 AM but of course we want to have more fun for the last minute kaya we decided to go for a swim for the last time. I brought my action camera to capture the moments in the sea that’s full of waves. I thought everything would be fine as we expected but things really happened unexpectedly.
We can’t make things the way we want it to be. This is the most unforgettable yet terrible experience I had in my entire life. Until now I can’t refrain from thinking about what could possibly happen if I wasn’t that strong enough to fight for my life. Let me tell you what exactly happened to my what so-called Near Death experience.
For the sake of excitement, we went far to where we can really experience being lifted by the big waves. At first, we enjoyed it until the time when one of my friends who I let handle my camera went too far from us. So I followed him to get the camera, I didn’t expect bad things would happen. We were being hit by the big wave and it followed by another wave that made me panic. The most tragic part was we were being pulled under because of the current. I was drowned many times and I never thought of being able to survive. One of my friends attempted to save me, he tried to pull me away from the big waves just by getting the other end of the camera stick but he failed to save me, instead, he was drowned too. Three of us was drowning, until then another friend of mine attempted to save me since I’m somehow nearby but he failed too because I was so tired to fight with the current under and it’s pulling me away from him.
I kept on trying to get away from big waves but it ain’t no help. Being drowned for a couple of times made me weak and I even thought it would be my last time to breathe. I had difficulties in breathing because I can’t seem to be able to get my head up on the water due to waves are continuous. One last thing I remembered when I’m giving up, I said “God ikaw na bahala” after that i can no longer fight with big waves. I was under the water for almost a minute, but there’s a miracle happened. Waves turned to be normal and no more current that pulls me far. There’s a light i can barely see and when I tried to get up, I was able to breathe. Although there was still waves but its not that strong to take me far. I thought 2 of my friends who were being drowned too was not able to make it.
I was feeble and I can no longer walk fast because my body seemed to be drained of energy. One of the saddest part was there were many people around the seashore but they never tried to save us, big waves may be difficult to fight with but they could’ve borrowed life vest with those people around the shore. Surfers was there but they were late because we were able to save ourselves.
We were laid down in the sand. People were just watching us and get no help from them. Until then, these friends help us to get up and go back to the resort to take rest. No first aid or what not being given to us, instead, we just took rest thinking everything will be okay. I appreciated what the associate of the resort told us. They can look for an ambulance if we felt not okay, but she could’ve looked for help already by the time we get off from water.
Rest day over, back to basic what they usually say when you have to go back to work. My friends who were drowned too are okay now. What I concerned about is the headache I felt right after drowning. It has been relieved but I can still feel a little pain inside. Though it’s bearable but this is unusual to happen oftentimes.
Lesson learned: this had taught me a lot, we have to know our limitations. Things happen for a reason and we shouldn’t blame others if from the begging we knew it was us. I kept on saying we have to do whatever things could make us happy but at this point in time, that has to change. There are things we should never take the risk with. They say life is too short to not live to its fullest and we can only get within ordinary if we wouldn’t take the risk. I say life is too short to take risk of our lives onto such risky situations. Which applies to all not just with the scenario I’ve shared.
Here’s the video I made but please don’t judge my editing skills.
