Until a few years ago, every year my family and I went to Arouca to spend some time with the other members of the family: my uncles and aunts, my cousins and my grandparents. We always prepared this day as if we were going on a trip because we took our household stuff: the pots and pans, the plates and the cutlery, the bath towels, the big rugs to lie down on the sand, the baskets containing all kinds of food, chairs, fishing rods, and so on.
Arouca is a beautiful historic village with a few clear, unpolluted rivers, containing a huge volume of water and with rough and thick vegetation. This river where we usualy camped and met was especially dangerous in the winter, but not in the summer. There was a particular year that I recall with a strange feeling of anxiety and emotion, since something nearly tragic happened to a cousin of mine.
The summer of 2007 was a very hot season and the sea beaches were always packed with people, as everyone likes to go near the sea to get a tan, enjoy the sea water, and dive in the waves. But our family enjoys the beach and the sea when there is no one around us, so we can relax and enjoy ourselves unperturbed. That is why that year my family preferred to go to the country, where it was more peaceful and the contact with nature was more intimate.
My uncle Carlos had a spacious van which he took us all to the river. It was the van he used for work, but it was also useful fo this kind of trips to the river since we could take the entire family on it. Driving through the woods, I felt the power and magnitude of nature with its long trees-pine trees, eucalyptus, among others; the hot wind in my face gave me a freeing sensation as if I could enjoy that freedom and peace forever in my life. And the animals we saw during the trip to the river seemed minute because they were distant on the top of the hills: I could see cows and sheep busy chewing on their food; the grass seen from below was green and the sun reflected on the animal's bell, clinking as if it were the Morse code, because it clinked every time each one moved its head. That rivetting image has never been erased from my mind, the feeling of being able to grab nature as if it was ours. Despite having taken a lot of things to this picnic, we didn't mind because we were a sufficiently big group to settle ourselves down in no more than five minutes, and that was what happened. A few minutes elapsed after we settled down and my cousins and I were already in the water, playing with each other, splashing our tiny bodies against the water and jumping towards each other. We also climbed the trees, whose trunks almost touched the water and threw ourselves from the top of the branches into the river. We would look at each other doing this, laughed and imitated the previous diver.
My cousin Rui is an adventurous person who likes nature and everything related to it. Every time he had the opportunity, he would always sign up for a rafting or canoe race with his friends. Although he had never been in a complicated situation, he liked dangerous and challenging situations, but never forgetting to act caustiously. That particular day in the summer of 2007 was the worst day for him, for me, and for all of the family. When we were playing in the water, in a calm and safe place without currents, my cousin decided to try a small boat in the water, a little rubber boat that we used to bring every summer. Somehow, he decided to go to a part of the river which was deeper and more distant from the banks. The wind started to blow strongly that day and the tree branches waved violently and it seemed as if it was going to rain, because when we looked at the sky we saw some menacing dark clouds coming in our direction. How could that happen on a hot day? The weather changed rapidly: first the sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing, which was relaxing and joyful, and the silence of the river was welcoming. Suddenly, grey clouds brought heavy rain which fell intensely. Unexpectedly, the river started to get too strong, the current was too fast, it was like we were at the sea. The river moved and formed little waves that threw themselves against the rocks with the strong and fast current and came back into the river with an enormous sound that echoed in the woods and in the hills. There were people up on the higher points of the hill and I thought that they were watching my cousin in trouble. I remember that I saw the tree leaves being blown from the ground quickly as if something shook them and they got scared, but would come back down immediately to the ground by the heavy rain. What a crazy day!
I saw my cousin helpless in the boat, distancing himself from my other cousins and me. I told the others to call for our family, to call for help. My fear was that the boat could turn over and it would be much more difficult to rescue him, because he would certainly be dragged by the current. He shouted at me, but I didn't hear what he said because the wind whistled in my ears. He waved his arms, as he was trying to tell me something. I had to think fast before I started to get anxious and scared. I ran through the woods as fast as I could, trying to follow the boat from the right bank and to see if it stopped or got stuck near some rocks or the tree roots that ran along the banks. In my mind I expected my cousin to know what to do, because I was at a loss. He was thinking or at least trying to think of what to do, signalling to me but I didn't understand his signals. My family was on the other side of the river, far away from us. I never thought something dangerous like this could happen because it was too sudden and everything had always run so smoothly before. One moment we were playing and when I realised my cousin was already in the boat, the current was taking him. I thought: My God, how am I going to handle this situation? What can I do? While I was running I felt my hands becoming cold and bloodless, and my tremulous legs barely had the strength to run, my breath being totally out of control. Still, my eyes followed the boat as I was pounding and that I could feel it in my mouth and in my stomach. I felt a shiver in my spine which momentarily left me without the strength and made me stumble. But I didn't give up, knowing that my cousin was in distress.
Luckily, I saw a group of people up ahead to where I was running to. They were also spending a good and relaxing day in the river, like us. When they looked at my face, they stared at me and some of them asked me if I was feeling okay, as I was very tired and pointing to the river. They all looked in the direction where I was pointing and saw my cousin being dragged down the river up to the point when his boat turned over and he disappeared in the darkening water. At that moment I felt helpless and thought there was no turning back and no salvation. I told them that I needed help , ask them for a rope which we had to throw to my cousin before he distanced himself even further. The current ahead was even stronger and more aggressive. My cousin was trying desperately to hold on to a rock, but the force of the current was too strong for him to bear and he continued to be dragged. I kept running alongside the river bank, crying out for him to hold on and not to give up. It was at that moment that I decided to jump into the water; there was no time to lose as he was getting more tired due to the effort. I could not wait until the others managed to get the rope to him. And then he might not be able to grab it. Already in the water, I let myself be carried by the current and was lucky to snatch a floating log.
At the time I was studying at the University and had had swimming lesson for two years. The lessons were a means to relaxing after a stressful day of study and work. I remember once having attended a lecture about "first aid" at the gym where I still exercised. The instructor emphasised that in a dangerous situation we must always place ourselves behind the victim, usually injured or just tired, so as to protect him or her. Never had I thought that those teachings would come in handy, but there I was, holding my cousin in the water and feeling afraid. Despite my fear, my cousin's affliction made me find the strength to fight for both our lives. Not really knowing how, I found the courage to help him. I took both courage and knowledge to overcome that situation, otherwise we could have been hurt or drowned.
I summoned all my strength and took hold of the log, being carried by the current, but I wouldn't let it go! For a few moments I thought about saving myself, for I felt my life slipping down my hands. But looking at my cousin, his affliction, the strength of the river, the agitation of the people in the bank, I knew I had to presevere. I did not wish to be a heroine, but I valued human life and didn't want us to die like that. I recollected all the things I had learnt in my swimming lessons and about first aid together with my skills. I refused to stay motionless!
Thank God I managed to reach my cousin: the river was completely out of control and the small waves were forced into the middle of the river by the current, exactly to the place where we were. I was in a better situation than him, because I had never let go of the log and easily reached him. I pulled him onto the log, as he was exhausted and had bruises on his face and arms. I asked him to use all his strength and not to let go.
At that time we were much alike: skinny, with more or less the same weight, drenched and cold. It was not difficult to keep him close to me, as he was floating. All of a sudden, I saw the result of the people's union and effort, for they had finally been able to throw the rope to where we were. They yelled and signalled to us to grab it, but it seemed unattainable. Despite the moving water and our fatigue, I took the rope and did not let it go, or it could had been our misfortune. It was difficult not to let go, as the rope was wet and slippery. I had one arm around my cousin's body and one arm tangled in the rope which were both leaving me tired. My cousin felt less tired then and helped me: we could both hold on to the rope. Now that we were grabbing it, I felt the rope moving and we moved along with it. The people were pulling us to the shore. Fortunately, that was not our end. I realised that those people were strangers, but still they were altruistic and were trying all their best to help us. It was a fateful day, but it ended well and I cannot help but feel emotional whenever I recall those moments.
This situation has taught me that no matter how much human beings wish to tame Nature and use it to their advantage, nature as the last saying. I have also learn that despite their egotism and selfishness, human beings are capable of incredible acts of love, compassion and altruism, even if it means putting their own lives at risk.
Likewise, my cousin Rui has also learnt his lesson: he continues to swim and use his boat in the river, but he does it with more care and caution than before. Now he knows and he is conscious that not only did that accident cause pain on him, but also on others, on his relatives and myself. If we had lost him on that day, our family would never have been the same. Notwithstanding, the near-death incident brought about some changes in his life: his parents, who were protective and worried, became even more protective, as did his old brother. They became more devoted to each other and closer, using all the time together to be at peace and loving each other as if it were the last time.
The truth is that we never know if tomorrow will come for us.
