I asked the KTT writers the same question I asked and shared from my Bible study group: What is the most dangerous or challenging situation you ever faced?” The writers’ stories are still coming in, so this will be a multi-part article of some harrowing and inspirational memories.

Marvin West: West, the Vol coverage Guru, added the word ‘alarming’ to the question about the most dangerous or challenging situation.

He recounts: “October 17, 1989, San Francisco, 5:04 pm, tucked into the auxiliary press box, under the upper deck, for the earthquake World Series is forever No. 1 in that category.”

“The first story I actually wrote was about what a man thinks when he thinks he is going to die. I clearly recall my prayer, asking God to look after Sarah.”

West continues, “I didn’t know Candlestick Park was built atop shock absorbers. I assumed it would collapse. I could hear chips and chunks of concrete falling all around.

“I never understood why I had the only functional phone in that area, but I dictated a few paragraphs to Scripps in Washington as soon as the outfield light standards and palm trees stopped bobbing and weaving.

(The Loma Prieta earthquake struck at 5:04 p.m. on Oct. 17, 1989. The quake caused nearly $7 billion in damage. 63 people died in the earthquake, and thousands were injured.”

Dr. Charlie Barnett: Barnett provides key medical advice every Monday in the DocTalk column.

Several years ago, Dr. Barnett and his wife took a guided float trip down the Shoshone River just outside Cody, Wyoming. It had been a heavy snowfall year, and the runoff kept the river swollen and rapid well into summer. So high, in fact, that float trips weren’t permitted until late July. We happened to be there on opening day.

Dr. Barnett recalls the trip: “The morning was perfect, warm air, a beautiful blue sky, the kind of day that seems that nothing bad can happen. I wore heavy fishing boots and a thick flannel shirt. Like a fool, I did not wear a life jacket.”

He remembers the first three hours working exactly as planned. Until it wasn’t. “The river carried us along gently. We talked, laughed, and relaxed. As we began to think about pulling over for lunch, the raft struck a submerged rock—hard enough to flip it. In a blink, all three of us were swimmers.”

The story continues: “My wife and the guide were thrown toward the bank. They managed to climb out of the water and to safety. I wasn’t so lucky. I grabbed the raft and clung to it, literally for dear life, as it was swept into a series of rapids. The raft was slick with sunscreen, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t pull myself back in.

“I floated like that for nearly a mile. The water temperature that day was 52 degrees. Slowly, hypothermia set in as the current kept the raft in the center of the river, far from the bank.’

Barnett remembers praying for divine intervention. None came. His body went numb, but his thinking was dulled in such a way, he felt calm. “I remember considering, quite rationally, it seemed at the time, that this wasn’t a terrible way to die. There was no pain. Just cold. And quiet.”

The survival instinct decided that dying was not an option, and when Dr. Barnett saw a root protruding from the bank, he let go of the raft and swam the ten feet to grab the root. He says, “Ten feet doesn’t sound far unless your legs no longer work, your boots are pulling you under, and your soaked clothes feel like lead. I knew it was now or never.”

He recalls: “I pulled myself out of the river and collapsed on the bank, vomiting what must have been a gallon of swallowed water. I sat there for nearly thirty minutes, shaking, slowly warming, slowly coming back to myself.”

Eventually, Dr. Barnett was able to walk to a nearby road, where a passing car stopped and picked him up.

In reflecting on these harrowing experiences, we are reminded of the resilience of the human spirit and the profound strength that emerges in the face of adversity.

More stories to come with tales of survival, courage, and overcoming adversity.

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