The ancient type of communication may sometimes come in handy in our digital era
A newspaper recently reported that two strangers saved the life of Curtis Whitson and his family. Through the newspaper, the victim expresses gratitude to these strangers, thanks to whom he and his family were able to return home and continue their usual way of life.
He asks the people who saved his family to respond in order to thank these brave people personally.
As it turned out, two brave travelers were descending a California river and saw a green bottle in the water, which attracted their attention. Strangers pulled it out of the water, where they found a call for help. Without hesitation, they warned rescuers about the find that was inside the bottle.
It all happened on the Father’s Day holiday in America. Curtis Whitson loved to travel and looked forward to the summer every year to take a new tourist route. On this day, the family decided to support him and spend the holiday actively, going together on a trip to the waterfall on the river. It was a well-studied route, and the family cheerfully overcame obstacles. They moved forward, jumping on rocks and swimming across narrow and quiet places on the river, and at night, resting in sleeping bags under the starry sky reminded them of a fairy tale.
The journey was about to end soon. It remained to overcome the path through the canyon, descend from the cliff and return to the camp. The travelers bravely continued their journey, but finding themselves in a narrow part of the canyon among 15-meter rocks, they realized that they would not be able to cross the river: too stormy and high-water flow of water blocked their path. They also had no opportunity to climb back up.
The travelers realized that they were trapped and they themselves could not get out of there. There was no way to call someone for help because of a broken mobile connection.
They realized that the only salvation for them would be the opportunity to climb back up the cliff. They alternately tried to climb them, but the 15-meter cliffs turned out to be impregnable. Each attempt to climb ended in failure.
Whitson, as an experienced traveler, tried to find other ways to call for help: they shouted, tried to throw sticks with words carved on it in the direction of voices coming from the other side of the canyon. But everything was useless and it seemed that there was no way out.
Suddenly he noticed a bright bottle from Nalgene and pulled it out of the water. In order to make it even more noticeable, he scrawled HELP on the plastic case. Inside the bottle they put a letter with a message of their location and a request for help, written on a random check that turned out to be in their pocket. With the hope of a speedy rescue, the bottle was thrown into the waterfall.
There was little hope that someone would find the bottle, and the family began to try to find other ways to attract attention to themselves. In the clearing, they spread out a piece of blue tarpaulin and laid out SOS with white stones. At night, this place was illuminated with flashlights.
What was their surprise when a helicopter hovered over them in the night darkness. They laughed and cried with happiness. In order to better see the victims in the dark, rescuers used night vision goggles. It was dangerous to land at night, so rescuers reassured the family, urging them not to go anywhere, and announced that they would arrive for them in the morning, when it would be possible to examine the area.
It turned out that 400 m from the waterfall there were 2 travelers who noticed the bottle and pulled it out of the water. Interrupting their journey, the guys overcame the way back to the camp and reported their find. The hostess of the camp called rescuers and in the confusion forgot to ask what the names of these guys were and to take their mobile phone numbers.
So the family was saved, thanks to two brave and selfless young people who wished to remain anonymous, having honestly fulfilled their civic duty and the dictates of their hearts. That’s how, in our age of digital broadcasting, thanks to the ancient type of communication, responsibility and high citizenship of two young people, the family’s journey had a happy ending.
They hope that they will be able to find their rescuers and shake their hand firmly.
