Webmaster's note - This story was sent to me by Lisa Walton. I decided to publish it here to help people understand how a simple day of fun at a waterfall can turn into disaster in an instant. These are Lisa's own words - I haven't changed a thing. She can be reached at Walton1105@aol.com
Wednesday, July 6, 2005, will always stand for me as a milepost. For I
know it is only by the grace of God through His provision that a nine year old
girl, Laurel Massey and I are alive today. First and foremost, this is not my
story-this is God’s story. Those of us involved in this story were participants
whose paths crossed in a moment in time, strangers to each
other.
Earlier in the day, my family along with
Laurel’s family and three other families who were camping together at Oconee
State Park in the northwestern corner of SC had enjoyed a tubing trip down a
portion of the Chattooga River. After returning to our campsites, a decision was
made to take an afternoon trip to Turtleback and Rainbow Falls on the
Horsepasture River in Transylvania County, NC, about an hour’s drive from the
state park. Some of us had been there before and knew it to be a beautiful and
thrilling spot where you could possibly slide down Turtleback Falls into a deep
pool below. The children in our group especially looked forward to the chance of
getting to swim. Bathing suits were donned and towels were grabbed and we were
off to our next adventure.
To get to the falls involves about a mile
hike in from the main road down a path that becomes increasingly steeper and
rockier. The excitement was mounting as you could begin to hear the rush of the
water as we neared the falls. When we were able to get our first good look at
Turtleback Falls, I remember being astounded at the amount of water that was
going over the falls as compared to when I had seen it three years ago. Then,
there were a number of people sliding down the falls. This day, apparently
nobody was getting anywhere near them. Even the most adventuresome member of our
group, Warren Bright, after some consideration, decided it was too much even for
him to risk. I remember thinking that I was so glad that he didn’t get in the
water, because I knew nobody had any business being in the river that day. But
we still had another waterfall to hike down to, the 120’ Rainbow Falls. It was
an even steeper and rockier climb down to it, but thankfully didn’t take nearly
as long. After about a five minute hike, we were looking out over this beautiful
falls with a massive amount of water crashing over the crest down a sheer gray
granite wall onto boulders far below. Again, as compared to three years
previously, the increased water volume was incredible to see. My husband, Rick,
along with Warren and the other adventurers of his family-wife Susan and
daughters Brianna and Leah, decided they had to experience this waterfall just a
little more up close and personal, so they climbed over a split rail fence and
headed down a steep and muddy slope to see Rainbow Falls from below while the
rest of us watched from the relative safety of our perch above. They came back
up soaking wet from the force of the spray and exhilarated from their adventure.
I had climbed just over the other side of the fence to give them a helping hand
the last several feet of their climb.
It was time for us to climb back up from
Rainbow Falls, and I had a plan. After I completed that hard hike, I was
planning to sit in a little scooped out round place in the rock along the river
just below the pool at Turtleback that I had seen earlier, take off my hiking
shoes and socks and just put my feet in the river and relax for awhile. Our
party was strung out over the path, with some stopping at a location above
Rainbow Falls to get a different perspective. Laurel was walking behind me on
the path. Some of the children were disappointed about not being able to swim
and there had been some talk among the adults before we began our trip back up
that maybe we could find a safe place somewhere between the two falls where they
could swim, but nothing was promised. I spotted my little bathtub in the gray
granite and headed from the path down toward it. Showing Laurel the “tub” and
telling her of my intentions to sit there, she immediately exclaimed that she
wanted to sit in it, so I told her she could and I would sit next to her on her
left. We took off our shoes and socks and I put my feet in the very cold river.
From this point in the story, my
recollections aren’t clear on everything, but I think Laurel wanted to move from
where she was sitting to the left side of me when she apparently slipped into
the river. I lunged for her arm to grab her, but the current was quicker than I
was and I could not grasp her. I lunged for her again and then I plunged
headfirst behind her into the river. I don’t remember the shock of the cold
water and before I knew it, we had plunged down a cascade and were underneath
the water, tumbling as in a washing machine, desperately trying to reach out to
each other. I was aware of three thoughts in these first frantic moments. First,
I was aware that we were struggling and I wasn’t sure if I was pushing Laurel
down because I was trying to pull her up. I’m pretty sure that we were caught in
a vortex in the water and neither one of us was able to surface, but I knew that
Laurel need to get her head above water. Second, I knew we had to get to a shore
so that we could get out of the river, and third, I knew that the beautiful and
now terrifying Rainbow Falls were somewhere below us.
All of a sudden, our heads popped out of
the water and I was able to see above me in a glance that we were indeed near
the shore, but that the “shore” at this point consisted of a huge granite
overhang, and I quickly understood that there would be no getting out the
Horsepasture River here. I was vaguely aware of a swirl of voices and faces for
just a moment, and then I was sucked under the cold green water again, swept
underneath and into the fast current of the river that less that an hour ago I
had looked at and knew that nobody had any business being in. Quickly, I
realized that Laurel was no longer near me. The despair I felt! I knew that
Laurel had been swept past me or had been drowned. I knew I was the adult that
was with her who had tried and failed to save her. The river’s mighty current
was simply too strong. At this point, with lungs bursting for air, I thought
that if she had died that I didn’t want to be rescued, and that I didn’t think
that I was going to survive. I was exhausted from the struggle of being
underwater for what seemed like an eternity, and knew I couldn’t go on much
longer.
I really can’t say how this next sequence
of events happened, but I must have surfaced again and somehow been carried by
the current closer to the left side of the river where the path and people were,
and there was a dark-haired young man wearing red swimming trunks there to reach
out and grab me. What I didn’t know after we went into the river was that just
minutes before our mishap, a trio of three young hikers, Drew Kennedy and his
sister from Columbia, SC and Mike Fuller from Cary, NC, had just reached the
area around Turtleback Falls and were trying to decide if they wanted to get
into the water or not when they saw us go in. Apparently, they sprang into
action with amazing speed, because when Laurel and I first surfaced, they were
already at an area on the rocks next to the river with a branch that was
described later to me as the size of a small tree. They were shouting at us to
swim over and grab onto the branch. Thankfully, Laurel was able to comprehend
what they were saying and was somehow able to push off and swim close enough for
them to be able to reach and pull her over toward the boulders along the left
side of the river. However, when I went back under the water, Mike went into the
river by himself and stood in the strong current near a large rock in the river
from where he pulled me out. I know without a doubt that without their quick
thinking and heroic efforts, neither Laurel nor myself would be alive today.
There was a greater power that was at work that day-the power of God Almighty.
There is no such thing as luck or chance meetings - God Himself is in control and
allows everything to happen for a reason, and I believe He allowed our paths to
cross that fateful day so that all of us, our family and friends and any other
eyewitnesses to this event could have a testimony to share with
others.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ
Jesus.
Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.