I love kayaking weekends on the Fox River above Wedron. I kayak upriver against the current for a couple of hours and then turn around and drift back. I love the kibitzing with the dozens of canoeists that I meet going with almost half telling me, "You are going the wrong way."
The river has been very shallow this year because of the lack of rain so it was more difficult to get up through the rapids because I couldn't paddle deeply enough. Even boats coming with the current were hanging up in the very shallow water. I saw a quite overweight girl that was stranded on a rock so I got out of my boat, walked over and pulled her canoe into deeper water but was shocked by what I saw crumpled in the bottom of her boat.
"Is she OK?," I asked the canoeist because the girl's complexion was about the same shade as my rapidly graying hair and to be honest, my first impression was that the girl was dead.
"No, she just had too much to drink,"replied the paddler. "Way too much vodka."
I wasn't born old and remember those college days when my friends and I drank too much, but this young girl seemed well beyond this and I was more than a little concerned for her welfare. The girl paddling the canoe lacked skills and with her weight, found it difficult to get out of her boat for the frequent portages. It may well have taken her several more hours before she could get the girl back to their car. Dehydration, sun stroke and alcohol poisoning were all dangerous possibilities. It was time to play the Life Guard card.
"I'm a Life Guard," which is true by the way, I told the paddler, "and we need to find a way to get this girl back to her starting place and shade quickly."
Luckily there were two young guys in this girls group who came upon us and playing the Life Guard card again, I convinced them to switch boats and take the intoxicated girl back to the starting area as soon as possible. They obviously weren't happy about their passenger but they complied. Blessedly, the girl that had consumed so much alcohol regained consciousness, so she obviously wasn't dead much to my relief, and she lay crumpled in the middle of the guy's canoe as they took her back.
I wish I knew how the rest of the story turned out but I don't. I had a family commitment later that day so I wasn't able to stay with the girl which obviously would have been the safest option, especially as I read about the dangers of alcohol poisoning the next day. When I last saw the two guys with the girl they were less than 15 minutes from their starting area. Hopefully the guys would have enough sense to get the girl out of the sun and give her some water to avoid dehydration. If I had it to do over again, and I knew what I know now, I definitely would have stayed with the girl and probably called 9-1-1 if she didn't improve rapidly. Alcohol consumption can get away from young people rapidly, especially young women who aren't very big, and even after passing out alcohol in their system can increase as it is absorbed. Throwing up is common and asphyxiation can occur if this is swallowed. The heart rate slows and can actually stop. Drinking until you pass out is way more dangerous than just having a good time.I learned a lot from my experience and I can only hope that the young intoxicated girl learned from hers.
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