It was a very sunny day. My friends and I made it to the bank of a river at Tse-Ikpam, North Bank. This river was more like an extension of the River Benue.
Growing up as kids in our local community, we had terrific experiences to tell about. The moments and memories of our childhood were hilarious and of course horrific sometimes.
On this fateful day, we decided to go swimming. We were out for a hypnotizing adventure.
Prior to this day, I had some swimming experiences but wasn't good at it. I never knew how to do the strokes. The best I could do was to stay in the water with my hands flapping the top of the water and my legs gliding through vertically. I literally walked in the water. I always kept my head above the water.
We got to the river and met some younger kids who swam from one end of the river to the other like pros. Wow! This was impressive and at the same time challenging.
Before one could say Jack Robinson, we had taken off our clothes and dived into the river. As a novice, I maintained my normal swimming style. It was fun as we played in the river and cheered the younger kids who performed different strokes.
We had been in the river for over an hour then I decided to go further to the deeper ends and even try the strokes the younger kids were doing.
Reaching the deeper ends, I lost balance as the ground was slippery and the water was deep enough to cover my entire body though I was standing vertically in the water.
I found myself sliding diagonally and my entire body was rotating. I couldn't find my grip. I tried to scream for help but as I opened my mouth I had gulps of water running down my oesophagus. I was drowning.
This continued for a while and I became weak in my fight to survive but I kept pushing.
Fortunately, one of the younger kids noticed my struggle. He was a bit far away from me but with his good swimming skills, he swam very fast to me.
He got to me and tried to pull me out but the more he tried, the more the water pushed me away from him. He continued trying and subsequently he was able to hold me. He dragged me to one end of the river and the other kids helped in pulling me out.
They laid me down on the bank of the river with my face facing the sun. I had gulped in so many litres of water that I almost passed out. They tried to resuscitate me, pressing my chest so I could gulp out the water I had drank.
They left me on the bank of the river and went back into the river to continue swimming.
Eventually, I regained full consciousness. I put on my clothes and went home without informing them. I was startled and too bewildered to say anything.
Since that day I don't even go close to a pool.