Natalie Corbett

The Waterfall

“Be careful we’ve had a couple deaths out there.” When I first heard those
words I thought nothing of it. I thought to myself I’m an athlete and a great
swimmer I have nothing to worry about. Those words had a much deeper
meaning to me later that day. Sadly enough it took a near-death experience for
me to realize that the time we have with each other is precious. I learned to live
in the present moment because it is all we have.
It was summer 2009 and I was with 3 of my 4 sisters: Julie, Diane, and
Patty. Being with any more than 2 of my sisters is pretty rare considering they
live all over the country. I was also with my new boyfriend Matt and a couple of
my closest friends. The whole morning I was thinking how awesome this day was
going to be and how lucky I was. We were going to a mystery waterfall Matt was
telling all of us about. We drove about 2 hours north of Cincinnati and our final
stop was a church parking lot. When we got out of our cars we saw a very
friendly lady entering the church that stopped and talked to us. “Where ya’ll
from?” she asked. “Cincinnati” we all replied with smiles. “Wow you guys drove a
long way for this. Be careful we’ve had a couple deaths out there.” And then she
waved and was gone. It didn’t seem to phase anyone what she said especially
not me.
Driving by it would seem like nothing but a church, a field, and a line of
trees meeting the field. We walked back in the field started to hear the rushing
water. Then we all climb down some tricky, steep, rocks covered in mud and the
first thing we saw was a beautiful creek underneath a tall railroad bridge. About
20 feet from the edge of the bridge the water falls down 30ft into a bed
surrounded by rocks and trees. We all put our stuff down and open a beer and
soaked in all the beauty of the day. “Who’s ready to jump off?” I said to everyone
with a daring tone in my voice. The first jump I did with my sisters. It felt
awesome free falling and hitting the cool water. After a couple more jumps Matt
asked me “Do you want to jump through the waterfall?” I hesitated, “Like go
behind it and jump?..Sure!” Something a little more daring was exciting to me.
And if Matt wanted to I wanted to. My sisters Patty and Julie followed right behind
us. Diane being a little scared was not so sure but decided to join us so she
wouldn’t miss out.
Matt led the way. We carefully climbed this little 2 ft ledge that was
covered in slick moss until we were at the undercutting of the waterfall. We had
to scream to hear each other. Matt yelled to us “The current is really strong today
so you have to jump to the right.” Fearless Patty went first. I was far enough on
the left side I could see her pop up and swim to the shore. Julie followed and I
saw her come up just as easily as Patty. Then Matt gave me a kiss and dove
through. It was just Diane and I left and I knew she was feeling a little scared so I
told her we could go in together with her on the right side and I would be more
towards the left. I knew I would be jumping through the strongest part of the
current but it didn’t scare me at all. We counted to 3 and I jumped barley noticing
that Diane didn’t jump with me.
The second I jumped the water instantly shoved me down. I thought I
would just pop right back up like my sisters but I didn’t. I was being forced down
and every time I tried to move I was forced right back down. The sound of the
water was like TV static only ten times louder. I tried to move my arms but I
couldn’t lift them any higher than my stomach and I was having a hard time even
holding my head forward. I felt like I could never move from that spot. I tried
opening my eyes and couldn’t see anything but the color brown. Then I heard a
voice inside my head say “I think this is it” and I stared to panic. I don’t know how
long I had been under the water at this point but it was long enough to picture my
family mourning for me at my funeral and I thought of all the things I would never
get to do. Never get married, never have kids, never travel out of this country.
Then somewhere I heard that same voice in my head say “No” and something
told me “just more forward.” With the images of Matt and my family in my head I
kicked with all my strength and moved my arms as hard as I could and I noticed
that I was moving upward. Finally I reached the surface but only for a second
before I was pulled back down. I came up a second time and took a huge breath
of air finally being in a place where I could swim. Then it occurred to me that
Diane had not jumped through yet. I swam against the current and tried
screaming to her. She did not hear my warning and I could barley see her jump
through. I was terrified for her and ready to go get help or swim after her with
whatever energy I had left. But she just popped right back up like everyone else
smiling when she came up out of the water. I felt so relieved that no one else had
to go through what I just went through.
I swam to everyone waiting on a giant rock. Julie and Patty took one look
at me and said, “Are you OK? Your face is blue!” I told them what happened
through breaths of air and tears. Matt had the worst look on his face. He wasn’t
talking. When we finally got to be alone together he hugged me so tight I thought
I would break in half. He told me how guilty he felt that he suggested the whole
thing. I assured him it was my fault that I didn’t listen to him and jumped through
the wrong part. None of what we were saying mattered. We were holding each
other and kissing and laughing and crying all at once and I could feel how much
we cared about each other.
The rest of that day was one of the best days of my life. I never felt so
lucky to be alive because I realized how easily our lives could be taken from us. I
looked around at my friends and sisters and just soaked them in. After that day I
learned to make the best of the moments I have with everyone. I learned not to
live in the past of future but to be present. Although I had a very scary experience
I would not take it back because I would not have the same outlook on life that I
have today.