Surviving water disasters
The maternal side of my family used to go on summer vacations involving a large number of relatives. During one such vacation many years ago, we had an interisland trip on a small motorboat with several children, an uncle, and my step-grandmother.
It was a calm, sunny day, so we were all shocked when, suddenly, a torrent of water surged into the boat. The motor had dropped off into the sea, bringing us to a standstill. Amid screams and crying, my step-grandmother called out to save the children and told them not to mind her because she was already old.
My uncle, a big, powerful man, jumped into the sea and called on two boatmen to help him lift the boat, and to swim and push it to shore, about a kilometer away, even as he called for calm and asked the boat occupants not to stand or move around.
After what seemed like eternity, we reached the other side of the shore, where our anxious parents were waiting. There were no injuries or deaths, which was deemed nothing short of miraculous.
Three of us boys were about 10 years old at that time, which led the clan’s Chinese elders, in a post-incident analysis, to conclude that the three, all born in the year of the dragon, were literally heavyweights and that this had caused the mishap.
The aftermath of the banca mishap wasn’t a ban on dragon children. Instead, all the clan’s children were enrolled in swimming lessons that summer with the famous instructor Lozada, whose family continues to be well-known for teaching children, especially, to swim.
I never forgot the dragon incident and the instant swimming classes. My children take swimming lessons as early as possible, long before they develop a fear of water. ”Throw them into the water,” our instructors told us, with the assurance that they would float naturally. Survive they did, quickly developing an addiction to swimming.
When I became chancellor of the University of the Philippines Diliman, one of the first things I checked was the pool, notorious for its neglect. Sen. Pia Cayetano, who was on our board of regents, shared my disgust and told me how she once joined a multinational swimming marathon down the Mekong River. When asked how she learned to be so good at navigating the very polluted river, she tersely replied, “From my swimming classes at the University of the Philippines.” The pool has since been rehabilitated, even as an Olympic-sized one is being built, ever so slowly.
When I took over a college in Tagaytay meant for underprivileged students, I successfully pushed to require swimming for all students. Our sports science faculty, Paul Libo-on, quickly organized such classes, together with water rescue skills to supplement land-based first responder (first aid) skills, for example, cardiopulmonary resuscitation. We didn’t have our own pool, but were more than willing to pay to rent use of the pool at a nearby resort.
I was surprised to find out that so many students, including many who lived in coastal areas, could not swim—women, even more so than the men. I suspect many women never learn to swim because of modesty, and indeed, many did not have swimsuits.
Beyond swimming and water rescue, I began to develop other ideas after reading about the recent deadly flash floods in Texas, which claimed at least 130 lives.
People will fight for survival, for example, seeking safety on higher ground, in trees, or by clinging to other humans. One unforgettable story was about a middle-aged man embracing his mother tightly for four hours as floodwaters rose around them. He had been providing care for his mother for several months before the floods. He survived, but his mother, who was in her 90s, was too frail and died.
I asked our faculty handling anatomy classes, required for our performing arts and sports science teachers, to link their classes to disaster management. I sent them the story of a young man, aged 26, who broke a glass window to get his family out of the house. Sadly, he cut an artery on his arm when he fell through the window and bled to death. A jacket wrapped around his arm could have prevented the tragedy.
Several stories mentioned pets, mainly dogs, surviving the flood, without details, but I figured, animals are easier to rescue because they swim naturally. It would still be good to think of what can be done by way of pet rescues. I read about French firefighters undergoing training to rescue all kinds of animals—from cows to goldfish.
