I could’ve never imagined that I could’ve lost my life at 4 years old. I was seconds away from losing my breath. It was me against the water. I used all my strength to fight back against the water. Fear running through my body. Heart pounding so rapidly. Getting weak by the second. At just 4 years old.

It was a bright sunny day at the American River. It was a nice day to go out for a swim. Around 96 degrees fahrenheit. Wind was pretty strong. Beautiful day. First thing I did was go straight to the water. I just wanted to feel how cold it would be and let me tell you it was freezing cold. Not a lot of people were around. It was just my mom, my dad, and I. I could’ve never imagined what would’ve happened in the next couple of minutes.

“Mom, can I get in the river now?” I asked. My mom responded, “Sure.” I was tempted to go in the river. Now let me remind you I was just 4 years old and not the best swimmer. Mom and Dad were setting up while I was going into the river.

I went under the water. The water was not clear so I closed my eyes. I came back up and my mom yelled, “Be careful!” I went back under the water and I felt some movement. I felt like the water was going against me. When I came back from under the water I noticed this wasn’t the spot I was in 10 seconds ago. As I swam back to shore I felt like I wasn’t making any progress. I tried to swim under water, still no progress. I kicked and kicked till I made some progress was able to touch the sand. I was able to stand on my two feet again. Then suddenly the wind picks up and knocks me over.

As I fell into the water, I felt my heart quickly start to beat faster, I tried to open my eyes under the water but the water was not clear. I didn’t have a chance to catch a breath before I was knocked down. I kicked and kicked trying to feel how low I was off the surface. Hoping my arm or leg would feel the wind. Still nothing. My life was in jeopardy. I was not going down without a fight. Finally my arm finally felt the wind. As I lifted my head up i was able to take a deep breath. Remember I was just 4 years old.

I felt my heartbeat rise. At that moment I felt like it was going to pump out of my chest. I started swimming and kicking trying to feel the sand. I opened my eyes still yet nothing. I went back up to take another breath. I wasn’t able to see how far I was off the shore.

As I kicked and kicked I finally felt the sand. The water wasn’t going down without a fight, either. It was pushing me back. Fighting against my body I stuck my fingers into the sand crawling back slowly. At last I laid my body on the burning sand. At that point I really didn’t care about anything, I was just trying to catch my breath. I was gassed. I got up and slowly walked back to where my parents where.

As I walked back, I knew I was capable of fighting against the water. Ever since that day water or the river never gave me fear. It taught me that you should never go down without a fight. If you keep trying and never giving up there's always a chance of survival. Years later, from 2006 to 2016, I feel like if I stop trying then I will make no progress. Though if I keep trying and never giving up I could do anything I put my mind into.