Life Saving Story

Turner Falls
Loretta and I planned a trip to Oklahoma every Mothers day, for her family reunion; but, This particular year was different! I woke up early and turned on the coffee. As the coffee brewed, I decided to take a shower. When I was finished, Loretta was already up so l went into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. As I was walking back to my room to get dressed, I felt a little nauseated. By the time I got too my room I lost it.

Luckily I only had coffee in my stomach, so there wasn't much for me to lose We had planned to go to Boone to pick up Loretta's niece, but I started throwing up again. Our schedule had to be kept, so I asked Loretta if she would pick up her niece in Boone. Fifteen minutes later I threw up again, and another 15 minutes, it happened again an again.

Loretta was getting ready to make the trip alone. I told her when she returned I should feel better. Well I was wrong, it takes almost 6 hours to drive there and back and, while she was gone, I tried to eat, drink, do anything to keep from getting sick. When they returned I was still in bed shivering, with a small garbage container by my bedside. I told Loretta I had been sick every 15 minutes, I had the dry heaves.

It started again and this time when I was finished, Loretta looked inside the garbage can, and could tell that I was throwing up blood. Loretta and her niece talked between themselves and decided I needed to go to the hospital. All the time I was wincing at least every 15 minutes, I carried the garbage pail with me because I knew it was over a 30 minute ride and I threw up at least twice. When we got to the hospital, they admitted me within 10 minutes.

I felt like I was going to die! I was balling up shivering, wincing, and to top it off, I was freezing. By this time I was dehydrated and they had to start an IV. I'm not sure how long I was in the ER, but I thought I would be going home that evening. I was there a few hours, but all they could do was give me Phenergan. The doctors and nurses were in awe and felt sorry for me because of the horror I was going through.

That day it seemed like I was sick every 15 minutes. That trip was a tradition; we would go to Oklahoma every year to see Loretta's mom. We would visit for a week and have the reunion on Mother's Day. This year we didn't make it for the reunion. Instead we had a visit to the hospital where I was sick for five days. It felt like I was sick every 15 minutes, but I knew it was less than that.

Well as you can imagine we did not make the family reunion in May. And the hospital did stop the throwing up, but not until the reunion was over. They never did say what the cause was, we all suspected e-coli.

We decided to surprise Loretta's mother, and visit during the summer. We left in July, it was a long hot day, but the ride went without a hitch. Upon arrival in Oklahoma, her mother was so happy that she cried. Our plans were too stay just a little over a week, and to follow a weather system back to North Carolina.

You see, I like to drive in clear weather, so I follow a front to the east coast, and avoid the rain. After a few days with no rain, and staying inside just to keep cool, The board games were getting old and boring.

Sometime around midweek we all decided that a road trip was well deserved, we gathered our goods to spend a day at a local swimming hole. Oklahoma doesn't have many beaches, there are no oceans close, not many lakes and very few rivers and streams. In the middle of the state, near the southern half of Oklahoma, is a place called "Turner Falls ".




As you enter the park, you can see a pool made by the river, on the banks there was a slide and a diving board. That's where we started, at the pool, we spent most of the day there. After lunch we headed up stream to the falls

The river was more like a stream, it was no more than 10 feet at its widest point. The walk, from were we were parked, was about a ''Æ'''½ mile to the falls. At the bottom of the falls, they cleared an area for a large pool, a concession stand, and two small beach's. With hardly no rain this summer the flow of the river was nice and easy.

We crossed over the bridge at the bottom of the pool and took a picture of the falls. By the time we got to the beach to set up camp, I had already dove into the pool. I swam around a little bit, and then went down under to see how deep it was and to measure the flow of the current.

I came up at the bottom of the fall's, and the gravity of the water felt soothing to the body. I swam back to the beach where every one was setup, I told Loretta, the falls felt like a massage. There wasn't many people that day on the beach, only a handful or so. The concession stand was even closed. Loretta and I went for a swim, there was no one else around and we were laying under the heavenly waters of the falls.

Neither of us could see, because of this splashing of the water. I climbed up father on the rocks and wiped my eyes of the water. When my eyes cleared, I saw a little girl, her hands were clinched to the top of two other little girl's hair. That glare from the water, she looked like a blurred cross, I had no time to think, I just reacted.

Standing on the rock at the base of the falls about 30'ft away from me, where three little girls. The force of the current was forcing them closer to me and the deep end of the pool. The oldest of the three kids barely had her mouth above of water, the other two girls were under water. It was obvious that the current was pulling them all under.

Without thinking I dove in, within a second they attached to me like a sucker fish, nearly pulling us all under. I fought the current, the three little girls, and the deep water just to keep my head above water. My toes barely touched the bottom of the river, but I was fighting hard to get us all to shallower water. The girls were choking and I was yelling for help. I was able to get us to the shallow end of the river, where the lifeguards and their mothers all swam towards me.

That day was a special day, I save the lives of three little girls. If I had never meet Loretta and taught her about dragging up, and spent mother's day in the hospital, we would have never gone to Turner Falls in July that year.

This story is for anybody that's ever been to or heard of Turner Falls. If you know the name of any of the girls in this story, please contact me at the following address billypayton at yahoo. com.

Please copy this story and send it to everyone in your address book.

Thanks!

Billy Payton
__________________
" God Bless ,
>>>---->Billy

Heavenly Father,

I feel the Darkness engulfing me. The burden is so
heavy to bear, I thank you that you have promised
to take this weight from me.I will surrender it to
you, leaving in your loving hands.



AMEN

Life changing Events!
Dragging up, aka When I Meet Loretta
Turner Falls