Don't have time to read this short story? Listen to my audio version here --> She was a paraplegic but that didn't stop her.mp3
This story is about a miracle I witnessed that I wish I could replay over and over again…
Later on that same summer I rescued Steven a man approached my stand in the middle of the hot August day. He said there was a woman at the back of the beach on the boardwalk who needed a transport to get on the beach.
(This isn’t uncommon, as usually it’s for elderly or disabled individuals who need a specialized wheelchair to access the beach)
I assumed this is what it was and used my radio to call my sergeant to unlock the wheelchair box for her. After about five minutes I saw my sergeant roll up on his quad to the back of the beach. As I continued to scan the water and keep the public safe I couldn’t help but realize he was taking a little longer than usual.
I continued to keep an eye on my sergeant for another 10-15 minutes to see if I could figure out what was going on, or if he needed any assistance. But eventually I saw him slowly driving towards the front of the beach to my stand with the lady on the back of the quad.
(My sergeant’s not a big fan of transports on the back of his quad in case an emergency would happen, then he would need to leave the patron stranded. So as this was playing out, I was rather confused.)
The closer he got to my stand I noticed the woman (who at the time I thought was an elderly lady) was no more than a 29 year old girl. They pulled up next to my stand and parked under the shade of my umbrella. My sergeant said, “Craig, this is Amber!”
As I stood atop my stand and peered out over the water, I introduced myself and noticed that she was a paraplegic with complete paralysis of her lower extremities. Without waiting for my sergeant to help, she rolled herself off the back of the quad and began to take her beach towel out of her bag and lay it out on the ground for her to lay on.
My sergeant said he would be back in no more than a half hour but to radio if I needed anything. He left and I began talking with Amber as she laid there on her towel, virtually unable to move. I looked down and asked if she needed anything but she said she was content under my umbrella shade.
As we continued the conversation the tide started to go out and the waves began to really settle (I guess you could say it started to look like Lake Atlantic!)
After we finished talking and the tide continued to go out, Amber did something I wasn’t quite ready for.
She began crawling towards the surf…
Arm after arm, legs just dragging along, I watched her work up a sweat in the hot August heat, covering herself in sand and no doubt causing brush burns on her motionless legs. I watched in disbelief as it took her ten minutes to crawl 20 yards just to reach the edge of the water...
She then rolled herself into the surf and just laid afloat on top of the water. Her eyes completely closed and arms spread out wide, she took it all in. It was obvious she had just worked tirelessly to get to the water just to lay there.
What was it about the ocean that was so important for her to get to it, I wondered?
The lifeguard within me watched and made sure that she was completely safe at all times, but I couldn’t help but to fixate on her and think how incredible it is to witness such an amazing moment in her life.
I can just remember how I felt watching her lay there in the calm water just floating without a care in the world. I truly don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more at peace.
About 20 minutes had gone by and I noticed Amber start to crawl her way out of the surf. This time she was obviously soaking wet but didn’t care. She crawled up a slight hill just to get back to the shade of my umbrella.
Amber would crawl a few yards at a time and then take a break. Other spectators who watched this didn’t hesitate to come help but she told them it she was fine. She crawled just mere feet at a time and would need to rest for a moment before continuing. Of course I called down and asked if I could do anything to help but she just said it was something she needed to do herself.
I couldn’t help but respect her decision, so I continued to watch and be ready at a moment’s notice just in case she would need assistance. This time with sand completely covering her wet body, she fought with everything she had to get back to her towel and shade from my umbrella. After about 20 minutes, she had made her way back without any help.
I let her dry herself off before I said anything, but when I did I asked her why it was so important for her to get in the water?
To this day, her response still brings tears to my eyes…
It took Amber a few seconds to respond but she looked up at me and said that her mother had recently passed away.
She said, “My mom was everything to me. She took care of me my entire life. We would come to the beach together and she was the one who would carry me in and out of the surf just so I could feel the water on my skin. When she died, I felt lost and alone."
Amber continued that conversation with me and she told me that she needed to get into that water on her own. It was her first time back in the water since her mom passed and she had never gotten in on her own before. Her mom was her strength. She didn’t care how bad it hurt or how long it took, she was going to get in. And when she did, she said the weight of the entire world was lifted off her shoulders.
After that conversation ended, she simply said she was good to go. So I called my sergeant on the radio and he came to pick her up to take her off the beach.
Needless to say, I was pretty emotional the rest of the day - as I still am to this day years later.
I continued to think about that moment for awhile that afternoon. How much it must have meant to her just to get into the water, I could only imagine. I watched her fight with everything she had to get there.
All Amber wanted was to spend 20 minutes in the water and she was willing to do whatever it took to get there. She crawled with just the strength of her arms and core, ignoring the heat of the sun and the pain of the sand, just to feel the water on her skin.
It’s miracles like Amber that make me stop and appreciate all that I have in my life. How many times do we complain how tired our legs are from a long day at work? Yet, we are so grateful to even have legs to use.
What would’ve taken me five seconds to hop off my stand and get into the water took Amber 10 minutes to crawl to.
While she taught me a lot that day, she showed me that when we want something bad enough, the only thing stopping us from achieving it is...ourselves.
What I want to leave you with is this:
Too often when we want something, we just kinda want it. We don’t want it bad enough or we would make a way to do it. Period.
We feed ourselves all the excuses as to why we can’t reach our goals. We have too much debt, too many kids, not enough kids, too stressful of a job, no job at all. We constantly tell ourselves all the reasons why we can’t have something, but what if we listened to that one voice telling us why we should have it?
For Amber, she wanted to experience that water so much - for her mom - she wasn’t going to let any excuse get in her way. Now that is one hell of a 'why'.
Do you have something you want so much you are willing to crawl, fight, and do everything you possibly can to reach it?
It doesn’t matter how slow you move to get there, don’t stop moving forward. It may take you ten minutes, ten days, or even ten years, but if you don’t stop moving forward, you’ll eventually get there.
Do you know the #1 reason people fail when striving to reach a goal?
They simply give up.
What if Amber would've given up on her crawl? She would never have experienced the peace she was looking for. Even more, she never would've inspired me to tell this story. That's the beauty about following through with our goals - you never know who you're going to inspire along the way.
I encourage you to find something you want so bad that you won’t let anything stop you from reaching it.
As always, I’m grateful for you and so glad you’re a part of my life and this amazing journey.
