I’ve had more than 200 people come on this podcast and share a story of something crazy that they’ve been through. If nothing else, I’ve learned one thing. Life can change in an instant.
For Dan, he’s just enjoying the outdoors on a trail in Alaska, and suddenly he’s on his back with the snout of a grizzly bear in his face.
Amy was just at work in her office in Oklahoma – then just seconds later she’s trapped under a pile of rubble and a bomb blew up her building.
Kennedy was just driving her car – then she loses control and finds herself literally hanging by her leg from the power line.
These are all regular people, just like you and me. They were just going about their life, and suddenly they got a big scary surprise.
My guest today is Carly. She actually lives not far from me so we recently met in person. Carly was out with her family once, just driving around looking at the neighborhood Christmas lights.
And then she spotted someone who was in desperate need of help.
Find CPR training near you with this website:
Zach’s podcast called A Rising Tide:
https://zachkidd.com/podcast-a-rising-tide
Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:
https://WhatWasThatLike.com/208
Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.
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Episode transcript (download transcript PDF):
I’ve had more than 200 people come on this podcast and share a story of something crazy that they’ve been through. If nothing else, I’ve learned one thing. Life can change in an instant.
For Dan, he’s just enjoying the outdoors on a trail in Alaska, and suddenly he’s on his back with the snout of a grizzly bear in his face.
Amy was just at work in her office in Oklahoma – then just seconds later she’s trapped under a pile of rubble and a bomb blew up her building.
Kennedy was just driving her car – then she loses control and finds herself literally hanging by her leg from the power line.
These are all regular people, just like you and me. They were just going about their life, and suddenly they got a big scary surprise.
My guest today is Carly. She actually lives not far from me so we recently met in person. Carly was out with her family once, just driving around looking at the neighborhood Christmas lights.
And then she spotted someone who was in desperate need of help.
Scott
When this happened, what kind of work were you doing?
Carly
I’ve been a dental hygienist for the last 12 years, and that’s what I was doing at the time.
Scott
Kind of setting the scene here, who was in your family at that time?
Carly
At the time, my immediate family was myself and then my husband Brody, and I have a two-year-old son, Blake at the time.
Scott
When you sent this to me, you said this happened around the holidays.
Carly
Yes, it did. When this happened, we were actually driving around our neighborhood looking at Christmas lights, showing our son Christmas lights. So it was just before Christmas.
Scott
Blake, as a two-year-old, probably loved seeing all those lights.
Carly
Absolutely.
Scott
Do you have a lot of them in your neighborhood?
Carly
We sure do. Our neighborhood is your basic kind of cookie cutter neighborhood – all the houses – and everybody decorates and it’s beautiful.
Scott
Let’s talk about what happened. First of all, what time was it when you were driving around? It must have been dark, right?
Carly
It was dark, yeah. Probably just after dinner time, basically right before bed. So Brody was driving my son just in the back seat and he was, of course– we don’t buckle him in when we ride around the neighborhood just to look at Christmas lights. So he was just kind of hanging out the window. That’s when I looked over and saw this guy standing on the sidewalk, and it looked a little weird.
Scott
When you sent this to me, you said that you saw him and he looked frazzled.
Carly
Yeah.
Scott
What told you that he was frazzled?
Carly
Well, I just noticed this guy kind of pacing back and forth kind of quickly, hands on his head like something is wrong. I’m in shock and I said to Brody, “Stop the car and let me get out and check out what this guy’s doing over here.” It just was something that I’ve never seen on a sidewalk in my neighborhood. Honestly, it’s because I’m in medical and I think that’s just part of my nurturing nature. As soon as I got out of the car, that’s when I realized what he was frazzled about. There was a woman laying on the sidewalk, looking completely unconscious. Instantly, I could tell that he was on the phone with 911. By the way, he was answering questions. “Oh, she just fell on the ground. No, she’s not breathing. No, she’s not talking.”
Scott
The man on the phone with 911 was Robert.
Robert
Thelma and I were on our evening walk that we take almost every night, and we were about a quarter mile from our house, and she just collapsed in my arms. I was holding her with one arm, and then I dialed 911 with my phone. While I was on with 911, I had to put her on the ground to start CPR. As soon as I put her on the ground to start CPR, I noticed a woman get out of her car and she ran up to me and she basically said, “I know CPR.” With that, Carly, whom I know now, jumped on top of my wife and started doing CPR on her while I was with 911 trying to get the rescue vehicle to the right location.
Carly
So I just walked up to him and I said, “Do you need CPR?” I didn’t really know what to say. And he basically just looked at me and nodded at me, and that was really the beginning of it all.
Scott
Was he, like, in a panic mode?
Carly
Yeah, I can’t describe it but, basically, I could just hear him going, “Oh my God, Thelma, please Thelma, please.” And that was really it. So that’s kind of when I started– I’m assuming Thelma was her name at the time. I checked her pulse. I could tell there was no pulse. She was not reacting to me. So, I just went straight into CPR at that moment.
Scott
And she was also not breathing.
Carly
Yes, completely unconscious.
Scott
What did Brody do? Did he just stay in the car?
Carly
Oh, I guess that would be important, wouldn’t it? Because by the time we saw all this starting to happen, just before I started CPR, I kind of got up and I waved at him and I said, “Take Blake home. I’ll be home in a little bit. Just go.” And he just left and that was it.
Scott
And was that just so that Blake wouldn’t be traumatized seeing what was going on or?
Carly
I really don’t know. It was just my reaction to get him out of there.
Scott
I’m thinking about this from my own standpoint with my wife. Was Brody hesitant at all to leave you alone in this emergency situation or was he like, “Ah, this is Carly. She can handle things.”
Carly
I’m pretty sure he thought “Carly can handle it.” I don’t even think he said a word. I think he just left. When I began CPR, I could instantly hear the guy on the phone. He was saying to 911, “There’s somebody here helping me right now giving CPR.” And he kept telling me the ambulance is on the way, they’re coming.
Scott
Okay, so let’s talk about that for a minute. You’re a dental hygienist. Why do you know CPR? Is this just a job requirement or?
Carly
Yep, basically it is just a job requirement when you’re in the medical field to know BLS, which is basic life support, and we take a required course every one to two years just depending upon what your requirements are.
Scott
I know the procedure for CPR has changed.
Carly
Yes.
Scott
How is it different now than what it used to be?
Carly
The main difference now – and I would say probably within the last four to five years is when they really started kind of changing it up more – is that there’s no more mouth to mouth required. It’s kind of taught that the more important thing now is to keep the heart pumping. Don’t stop the heart pumping.
Scott
And prior to this, had you ever done CPR on an actual person before?
Carly
No. No, I have not. Only on a dummy.
Scott
How nervous were you?
Carly
I would say now that I probably was nervous. But thinking back, I was in such fight mode that I just instantly started doing it.
Scott
Yeah, you were just running on adrenaline, sort of.
Carly
Basic adrenaline, yep. You know how they always say, “You might think you’re going to forget it” but I just jumped right into it and knew what I was doing somehow.
Scott
Really? It’s not all that complicated, right?
Carly
No, it’s really not that complicated. It’s just knowing what position to be in and how quickly you should be pumping your hands down on the chest, really. That’s it.
Scott
And she was already on a hard surface, she was on the sidewalk, so that’s good.
Carly
She was already on her back. She was ready to go for CPR.
Scott
So how long did you do that?
Carly
I think, honestly, it was probably only about four minutes – maybe not even four minutes, maybe three – and I could finally hear the sirens making their way into our neighborhood and, I tell you, my body hurt so bad in that moment already just from constantly giving CPR.
Scott
Yeah, it’s not like you can take a break.
Carly
No, no break.
Scott
I know CPR can also sometimes break ribs.
Carly
Yes.
Scott
Did that happen or do you know?
Carly
It could break, I believe the sternum is what it is up under the chest, but I do not believe that did happen with me, no.
Scott
You’re out in the open here on the sidewalk. Did anyone else stop by to help?
Carly
Well, there were two cars that drove by during this time and just kind of kept driving, so I don’t know if they saw us. I don’t know if they thought, “I don’t know what’s happening” and just kept going. I have no idea. So paramedics showed up. They instantly just came right over. One of the paramedics took over the CPR instantly from me and then another second paramedic started doing the bagging procedure, which is what’s helping her to breathe now that there’s no more mouth to mouth. The third paramedic, I just said to him, “Is there anything else that you need from me?” And he told me, “Thank you very much because, without you, she probably would not have been alive” and basically “Get out of my way. Go home. I’ve got it from here.”
Scott
Was she resuscitated there? Did they get a pulse back?
Carly
I really honestly have no idea. They just wanted me out of the way.
Scott
That makes sense. I mean, it’s not like you’re going to be insulted by that, right?
Carly
No, absolutely. Let them take over. Yes.
Scott
How far was this from your house?
Carly
Only probably about five houses down. Wasn’t very far at all. It only took me probably, I don’t know, 2-3 minutes to walk back home. Nothing crazy. I was high on adrenaline that night. Let me tell you what, I came home, my body was shaking. If I had Xanax in my house, I probably would have taken a Xanax at that time and there was just no sleeping to be had that night. I was just very shocked at what just happened. Basically, “Was that real?”
Scott
In your head, were you kind of replaying the scene over and over?
Carly
Definitely. So my main thought was, “How am I going to find out if this woman is alive? Did this woman live? Did this just happen basically?” So, I actually went on to one of our local Facebook groups. We have a Clearwater and a Dunedin local Facebook page in the area here and I actually went on there and I made a Facebook post and I said, “This is a weird request but I just gave CPR to a woman on a sidewalk. I believe her name was Thelma and I would like to know if anybody is a family member that can tell me if she’s okay. The paramedics took her away.” And I posted it. It was probably 11 o’clock at night at that point but I figured, “Hey, maybe somebody would know her.” By the next morning, nobody said they knew Thelma on any of my Facebook posts except basically, “What a lifesaver you are” and “Thank you for helping her.” Those kinds of comments more than anything.
Scott
Did you have an idea of where they were taking her?
Carly
I didn’t have an idea, so my next thought was– because I was not going to let this go, I was going to find out if this woman was okay. My next thought was, “Hey, I have a friend who is a paramedic.” So I called her the next morning – because it was too late that night – and I said to her, “Hey, this is a weird request but I had this woman that I found last night. She got taken away by the ambulance. Is there a way that you could look up any of the details? Anything.” She said, “Okay, tell me what street it was on. Tell me what house you were near and what time was it?” So I gave her all the details and, sure enough, she was able to find the call. She was able to look up for me that Thelma had indeed arrived alive at the hospital and, on the way, she had to be shocked by the AED twice. But, nonetheless, she was alive, and that was the last thing that she could tell me.
Scott
I’m sure there’s concern about HIPAA violation and all of that if she gave you too much information, right?
Carly
Oh, I’m sure, yes, but at least she gave me enough to know she was alive.
Scott
You could have a little bit of closure, yeah.
Carly
Yes.
Scott
You still wanted to find her, though.
Carly
Yep, exactly. So, no luck on Facebook. Okay, I know she’s alive somewhere. So one of my friends, because we are “women FBI agents”, we said, “Okay, what can I do to find this lady?”
And she said to me, “Okay, let’s go on the property appraisers website. Let’s look up every home in this neighborhood.”
And I said, “okay, that’s a good idea because she’s got to live here. Why else would you just be walking on the sidewalk?”
Scott
Possibly, yes. But they could have been visiting and just went out for a walk.
Carly
Yes. Very true. So we kind of went one by one down the road typing in addresses and boom, I found her – a woman named Thelma on the list.
Scott
And fortunately, they owned a home rather than renting.
Carly
They sure did, yep. They owned a home just down the road from me and I have never seen her before in my life. I mean, we had lived here probably for six years at this time.
Scott
Well, in a decent-sized neighborhood, when you looked up in the neighborhood, how many houses would you have had to go through?
Carly
Oh gosh. I think we probably went through 30 or 40 at the time. Yeah, I mean a good walk around our neighborhood is 1.5 to 2 mile walk
Scott
Man. What a tedious process though
Carly
Yes. But I wasn’t gonna give up. Nope.
Scott
How long did it take you before you found her name?
Carly
You mean on the property appraiser’s website?
Scott
Right.
Carly
That was probably, honestly, the next day. We sat there pretty quickly and started looking. Once I found a woman named Thelma – I knew which house she lived in, obviously, at that point – I drove by that house on my way to work and on my way from work every single day for at least three days and there was never a car in the driveway and never a light on. So I instantly thought the worst, “Oh this poor woman. She didn’t make it. They’re not home.” And that was really it. Yeah.
Scott
What next? Do you just give up?
Carly
No, I did not give up. So I think probably day four or five of driving by the house, all of a sudden, there was a truck in the driveway, there was a light on, and I’m like, “Oh my gosh. Finally, somebody’s home.” So I showed up – in my pajamas, by the way, no shame in our neighborhood – and, all of a sudden, I saw the guy. I recognized the guy, and I’m like, “Oh my God, he’s standing in the driveway.” So I pulled the car right in front of the driveway and he looked up, of course, and I got out of the car, and I could tell instantly he knew who I was. Just by the kind of the paws and the look on his face, I knew right away.
Robert
I was in my driveway doing something around the house and this woman got out of her car and started approaching me, and I went, “Oh my God, that’s the woman that saved my wife’s life.” And reached out to her and I said, “Oh my God, you’re my wife’s guardian angel!”
Carly
When I got out of the car and he looked at me, I said to him, “Do you know a Thelma?” He looked at me and I could tell instantly that’s when he got a little teary eyed and he said to me, “You are the one who gave her CPR.” And I said, “Yes, that was me.” And he said, “Don’t go anywhere. Thelma is inside and I’m going to go get her. She needs to meet you right now.”
Husband
I said, “Just a second, let me get my wife for you.” I walked into the house and I said, “Hey, your guardian angel that saved your life is in the driveway. Do you want to meet her?” And she said, “Oh my God, yes!”
Carly
And so, instantly, all of my worst thoughts went away. She’s alive. Thank God.
Scott
Yeah, he’s going to get her.
Carly
Yes.
Scott
Man…
Carly
So, there you go. He went and got her. I stood out there in my pajamas.
Scott
So, she came out. I would have loved to see that reunion right there.
Carly
Oh, yeah. It was kind of cool. So, she came out and, I mean, instantly tears in her eyes. We just locked on to each other and hugged each other without even saying anything. Then, I started a little bit of cry too.
Scott
This is Thelma.
Thelma
When my husband came in that day and told me that Carly was in the driveway, and really up until that point we had called her our angel, in particular, because we didn’t know she was even a real person. This lady in white had quickly come in and helped my husband perform CPR and then she disappeared. So, we refer to her as my angel – this lady in white with blonde hair. Was she real or was she a heavenly angel? She is an angel no matter what kind. So, when he came in that day and said Carly was in the driveway, it was a pause for me because she’s real. She’s a real person.
I came out and really just a flood of emotions of, “This is a real person. This is a person that helped save your life and she’s standing right here. You don’t have to wonder anymore.” Gratitude, gratefulness, thankfulness, all those floods of emotions just take you over and it was amazing. It was amazing to meet someone who actually helped save your life without asking, without knowing who they were, they didn’t know who I was. So when I think about that day, I always smile about it because I don’t have to wonder anymore who she is.
Carly
I was going through so much adrenaline again, just excited to meet this woman, and the fact that I saved this woman’s life that I don’t even remember what she said to me at all– I don’t remember anything, to be honest
Scott
You never know how you’re going to react in a situation like that. It’s funny you were calm and cool and collected when saving somebody’s life, but then just meeting this person later…
Carly
Yeah, all that excitement and adrenaline, I guess, came back and I figured out later– her husband – Robert, by the way, is his name – I ended up meeting him that day officially. He had told me that he was standing there on the phone with 911 at the time and this girl with bright blonde hair showed up like a guardian angel. By the time he said he realized what was going on, she was being loaded up in an ambulance and I was gone and never to be seen again.
Scott
He probably wanted to find you as well.
Carly
I’m wondering. I really don’t know.
Scott
If I were him, I sure would want to. I mean, the gratitude that they must feel just because you were there and you were willing to help and you had the skills to know how to help. I mean, at least you had a name you could search on, even if it was just a first name, but he had no way in the world of trying to figure out who you were.
Carly
Absolutely, yep. I had just kind of shown up and disappeared in four minutes, basically. A little bit later on that same day, I mean, I had her name now from the property appraiser’s website, obviously, so I knew their name and I went on Facebook and I found her and I added her on Facebook at that point. I’m telling you, within a couple hours, I can’t tell you how many messages and stuff that I had from her family members and her friends saying thank you. I realized at that moment that Thelma was not only just Thelma, but Thelma was a mom and a grandma and those little grandbabies had their grandma still.
Scott
Yeah, she’s important to a lot of people.
Carly
Absolutely.
Scott
Including her husband, Robert.
Carly
Absolutely.
Scott
When you met her in the driveway there, did you actually plan to keep in touch? Or you probably didn’t even talk about that. You don’t even remember. Why am I asking you? (Giggle)
Carly
You know what? I seriously have zero idea. All I remember is what Robert told me. I don’t even remember getting in the car and going back home. I don’t even know what happened after that.
Scott
If you added her on Facebook, it’s a good thing that you at least remembered her last name.
Carly
Oh, heck yes. I had done enough research to find her.
Scott
Oh, of course. Yeah, you already knew her last name. That’s right.
Carly
Yeah. Heck yes. Yep.
Scott
Wow. That is so amazing.
Carly
So I instantly got home and I told my husband, I said, “Oh my God, I found the lady.” And he’s like, “What?!” I said, “She’s alive! I gave her a hug!” I went on Facebook and updated my Facebook groups like, “Hey, I found this lady. She’s alive, by the way.”
Scott
When you were at work and taking this CPR training, I would assume a lot of people look at it as kind of a formality that obviously I’m never going to need this, but we got to do it for work, right? Is that how people look at it usually?
Carly
I do think so, yes. Unfortunately, yep. Just something that you have to sit through for two hours and wait till the class is over.
Scott
But you’re getting paid anyway, right? That’s right.
Carly
Absolutely. Easy paycheck.
Scott
You have kind of a different opinion on this subject now.
Carly
I definitely have a different opinion on it, yes. I never in my life would have thought that I was going to just need to know how to do CPR.
Scott
But now you’re sort of an advocate that everyone should know it.
Carly
Absolutely, yes. I definitely believe that everybody should know whether or not you’re in medical or not. I don’t know how many times people drive around their neighborhood and find a woman on the sidewalk, but you never know what’s going to happen, right?
Scott
That’s right. Yeah. So, does that mean your family members have now taken CPR courses?
Carly
They sure have. Every one of my family members all the way into my in-laws have all taken CPR now. They are not in medical at all, but I didn’t really care. I signed them up.
Scott
You signed them up and now you got to go.
Carly
I sure did. While they were there, I went ahead and got them to learn infant CPR because I was pregnant with my second child. So there we go.
Scott
That is very important, yeah.
Carly
Yep. That way, everybody was ready and learning it.
Scott
That’s the kind of thing that you would never feel guilty nagging someone to do – to go learn CPR.
Carly
Correct, yes.
Scott
There’s no downside to knowing it.
Carly
Absolutely.
Scott
One factor here, you look different now than when this happened a few years ago.
Carly
Yes, absolutely. So the part that I thought was kind of funny was that Robert, the husband, had said to me that I showed up with my bright blonde hair. Well, a few years back when this happened, I had this platinum blonde hair – I’m talking Barbie doll platinum – and I happened to be 66 pounds heavier at the time. Since then, I have lost that weight. I am back to my natural dark hair color – my Italian hair color.
Scott
You are like a new person.
Carly
Absolutely.
Scott
Okay, now, I know people are going to complain if I don’t ask you this. How did you lose 66 pounds?
Carly
Oh, goodness. Pilates, eating better. There was a shot or two of the Ozempic in there, but the good news is I have lost a lot of weight, not needing that medication anymore, and learning how to maintain my weight. So, it was a great kickstarter, and just honestly keeping up with eating better and keeping your body active.
Scott
That way has worked for a long time, but nobody wants to do that, I know.
Carly
Yes.
Scott
But you did it. Well, congratulations on that. That’s huge!
Carly
Thank you very much, yes.
Scott
What’s the best way for the average person– somebody sitting here listening to this saying, “Yeah, I should get CPR training.” Where do they start? How do they find something?
Carly
I actually did a little research on this because I have always been, since I was 16 years old, in the medical field. I was in pharmacy first and required it then. So, I did a little research because I wasn’t sure and I found out that, through the American Heart Association – they have a website, atlas.heart.org. When you go on that website, you can type in your zip code, and basically it will give you a laundry list of BLS providers, which is basic life support, and that’s it. You can sign up right on their website.
Scott
That’s easy.
Carly
It is very easy.
Scott
What about people in rural areas? Are they still going to have something nearby?
Carly
They will. They will have something nearby from my understanding. You used to maybe think that it was available at all the fire departments, but I actually learned, with a little research as well by talking to another firefighter friend, that they do not offer it at every single fire department anymore simply just because of government funding, but you can always call your local fire department and they may have a firefighter on staff that does it on the side basically as their own business.
Scott
Yeah, they would know how to do it, obviously. In their line of work, they would expect to be able to or to have to use it. Yes. I’m sure.
Carly
Yes.
Scott
And another thing you mentioned is, if nothing else, you can do a Google search “CPR training in my area.”
Carly
Absolutely. As long as it’s BLS, which is basic life support, you’re going to learn exactly what I learned.
Scott
There are standards with that, there. Is there some kind of certification for a course that– I’m sure the American Heart Association, obviously, that’s the best place, really.
Carly
Yes, that’s pretty much sure. Even the people who have their own little private businesses, their certifications are still through the American Heart Association regardless, yes.
Scott
Is there any part of this that we haven’t mentioned or haven’t talked about that you want to mention?
Carly
I think we should mention the reason why we were talking about why I looked so different at that time.
Scott
Okay.
Carly
Because, that makes sense because it’s kind of funny. I still walk the neighborhood all the time with my kids and my dog and I can’t tell you how many times in recent years, when I’ve been a little skinnier now with darker hair, that I have passed by Robert and Thelma, and they literally have no idea who I am. We just wave and say, “Hey,” but I just know they are not putting that connection together. I don’t just sit there and go, “Hey, by the way, remember me? I saved your life.” My two boys– at the time I had one boy, now I have two boys. My little guy, he has stopped, I can’t tell you how many times to pet their dog, and we just say, “Hey, we live in the same neighborhood,” but I really don’t know if they really know who I am. You know what I mean?
Scott
And they know your name anyway, right?
Carly
I mean, she knows me on Facebook. We have still been Facebook friends all these years, so there might be that, but it’s just funny. We never get into any other conversation, nothing. We just say, “Hey.”
Scott
Yeah, because if they knew who you really were, if they recognized you, they would be much more outgoing.
Carly
Exactly. I’m thinking maybe, yes. Yeah.
Scott
I mean, it’s not like they’re going to thank you for saving her life every time they see you. But still, it’d be more than just a passing wave or something.
Carly
Yeah. I mean, there might be a little bit more. Talk about, “Hey, how’s everything going? How’s your business?” Something like that instead of just a, “Hey, can I pet your dog?”
Scott
And there’s nothing wrong with stopping to pet the dog either too.
Carly
That’s right. That’s what we do. Yes.
Scott
All right. Carly, well done. Glad you were in the right place at the right time.
Carly
Me too. Absolutely, and I would do it again if I had to.
Scott
Carly’s neighborhood is only about 10 or 15 minutes from me, so we were actually able to meet up in person. And we went and visited Robert and Thelma and had a nice chat. Wonderful people, and as you might imagine, extremely grateful. You can see some pictures of Thelma and Robert and Carly in the episode notes at WhatWasThatLike.com/208.
And there was one more thing Carly wanted to add on, for anyone concerned about the possible stigma around the use of Ozempic for weight loss –
Carly
I think the biggest thing with the stigma around Ozempic use or other weight loss products, shots, medication, whatever, is that I’ve seen a lot of people say it’s cheating on a diet. Not only on social media do people bash people for it. People will ask me all the time, “How did you lose so much weight?” I always tell them I took the shots for a little while and I’m okay with that. I don’t think it’s cool to judge anybody for wanting to lose weight. Whatever weight loss looks like for that person, let them do it. Do you know how many diets I’ve tried before in my life? My gosh, so many, but this worked for me. The maintenance has worked for me. 66 pounds I lost. It took me over 3 years to lose 66 pounds, so I’m telling you it wasn’t like, oh my gosh, it was so lightning fast. No, it was very slow and, I think, healthy. I definitely think that doing weight loss shots was such a great jump start for me.
The last nine months or so, I’ve really not been keeping up with the shots anymore because I really just have learned what works for me. Like I said, I definitely eat better now. I really like doing Pilates. I’ve cut out energy drinks. I’ve cut out soda. So, I really don’t agree with any stigma, honestly, around any kind of weight loss medication. I’m really nothing but happy that I did it. But something funny that I wanted to add on to all of this was, now that Scott and I got to go and visit with Robert and Thelma, they definitely will know who I am as we walk around the neighborhood. No more not recognizing me, going forward
Scott
Whenever I’m out somewhere, I usually wear my What Was That Like hat. Not too long ago, my wife and I walked to an open house to take a look inside. We weren’t actually considering buying it – it’s just a couple of blocks from us and it’s kind of an odd house so we just wanted to see the inside. The real estate agent was on the front porch as we walked toward the door. He saw my hat and said “What Was That Like – you’re aren’t the host of that podcast are you?”. Turns out he has listened to a bunch of episodes.
His name is Zach, and he actually has a podcast of his own, called A Rising Tide. I have a link to that in the episode notes also.
Have you ever been out somewhere, and then you happened to see something happen that was extremely inappropriate or shocking? Then you might want to come over and tell that story in the podcast Facebook group. Our question this week is this: What’s the most Not Safe For Work thing you’ve witnessed in public? You’re welcome to come over and talk about what you saw, or just read some of the answers from other listeners. Our podcast Facebook group currently has more than 8500 listeners, and new people are joining every day. Just come over to WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook.
Graphics for this episode were created by Bob Bretz. Full episode transcription was created by James Lai.
And now we have the Listener Story. And I’m always looking for more stories from listeners, so this is your invitation to send yours in. It can be about anything interesting that happened to you. Just take 5-10 minutes and record it on your phone. Then email it to Scott@WhatWasThatLike.com.
This week’s story is in keeping with the theme of this episode, but this time it’s from the perspective of the person whose life was saved… twice.
Stay safe, and I’ll see you next time.
(Listener story)
My story begins in 1977 on Jimbaran Beach in Bali. My then husband and I were traveling on a year-long ticket around the world. We left from Vancouver, Canada and went to Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, and then Indonesia. I grew up in New Zealand and spent my childhood swimming in the ocean, so I was a very confident swimmer. On this day, we went down to the beach for an early morning swim. There were a few people there but, at that time, there were no hotels or resorts, so it was very quiet.
We swam out into some fairly small surf and, after a while, we decided to swim in but found we couldn’t make any headway. We weren’t worried, but when I glanced toward the beach, I saw a man waving his arms in the air. We continued swimming but, without getting any closer to shore, I decided to wave to him and saw him run into the surf. He swam out to us and tried to help us, but when we clearly couldn’t, he swam back in and came back out with a surfboard. He put me on the board and pedaled me back with my husband holding onto the back.
When we were safely ashore, he told us that many tourists had drowned there, so he would come down and watch to make sure no one would get caught in the riptide. We were so thankful for his help and amazed that he was able to swim back in to get his board while we floundered. We sat for a while and contemplated how close we had come to being swept out into the Indian Ocean. It was mind numbing.
My next lesson came in 2001 on a beach in Kauai in Hawaii. A friend had offered for me to come and stay for a month – a fantastic invitation I couldn’t turn down. The first morning I was there, we got up early to watch the sunrise and go for a swim. I hadn’t been in the ocean for a few years but I was mindful of its power. I sat and watched the surf to see the pattern of the waves. Since it was quite big surf, I decided to stay close to shore in the first break as there was a pretty deep trough between the breakers. No sooner was I out there, I realized I couldn’t body surf in. The surf was pounding down on me and I couldn’t keep my head up out of the water. I looked over to a few surfers and saw one youngster looking at me. When I came up for air again, he was still looking, probably recognizing that I needed help. I waved my hand and, in a minute or two, he was beside me. He put me on his surfboard and I rode it into the beach. This young surfer – he looked to be around 10 – ran back into the water with his friends while I was still gasping for breath. I watched him and his friends for a few minutes, remembering my last brush was near drowning.
I still love swimming in the ocean and take every opportunity to be in and on the water, but I also have a healthy respect for its power and unpredictability. I owe my life twice to the kindness and vigilance of young surfers, worlds apart.