A Looking Back Story in ASL by Scott Spethman

This is a short story about a past event in my life for my ASL (American Sign Language) Practicum course. This story is about my tenth birthday and my brief brush with death. Please enjoy and feel free to comment!

Looking back to my tenth birthday my mom and I went to the beach. When we arrived we parked the car in front of the stone wall. Out past the sand was the water and there was a lifeguard tower to our right. My mom set up her folding chair and began to read when she saw me run to the water. I dipped my big toe in the water but it was really cold. I eventually got in and started to go farther out and the water started getting deeper. I began ducking under the waves until I was up to my shoulders. Then I heard something; it was my mom calling me to come in and eat lunch. I started in, but didn't see a huge wave coming at me from behind. It hit me and I started tumbling underwater. I spun for awhile until I hit my head on the bottom. My mom saw me and called for the lifeguard to help me. The lifeguard ran out and grabbed me from behind and dragged me on to the shore. He laid me on my back and knelt down beside me. He checked me over and luckily I had a pulse, but wasn't breathing so he began rescue breathing. One breath every five seconds. He checked again for a pulse and I had nothing, my heart had stopped. He began CPR, twenty-five compressions for every two breaths. Another lifeguard ran over with a defibrillator. The first shock did nothing, but the second brought me back. I began to vomit and was very frightened but was okay. It was a very scary day.