Grateful.

This time of year, my Facebook memories are filled with photos of family vacations to Pensacola Beach in years past. Due to COVID-19, I avoided Florida this year and booked a few nights at a riverfront cabin in North Arkansas instead. We had plenty of room, so I invited my parents to join us.

Wednesday afternoon we hauled three borrowed kayaks to the public access at Buffalo Point on the White River. Highway 126 in Baxter County basically dead ends at the boat ramp, where huge bluffs tower over the clear, beautiful and swift river.

My parents dropped us at the ramp, snapped a few pictures, and the girls and I were off on our adventure. The float should've been under two hours long, or about three river miles. We planned to float back to the ramp near our cabin. The weather was perfect and so was our plan, except for one big thing: I hadn't done my homework.

I knew that the Buffalo River joins the White not far from the ramp, and I knew there was an island downstream. But I had not anticipated the roaring, unmistakable sound of shoals just ahead. My daughters are 11 and 13, and have had their own kayaks for two years. We've logged many hours on our local lake. This was their first swift-water trip, and it lasted about 100 yards.

When I saw the rapids, I knew we needed a plan, and quick. I spotted the dock of the White Buffalo Resort on our left. I told the girls to pull up to the dock so I could figure out how we should approach the rapids. Riley Cate and I pulled alongside the dock, but Mia Beth hit it head on at full speed.

Her boat flipped hard and fast, and she disappeared. Riley Cate and I both plunged in to help her, but we were instantly pushed downstream, powerless against the cold current. The White is a famous trout river. I'm not sure the water temperature at Buffalo City, but as a general rule, any water that holds trout is unsuitable for humans.

Riley Cate and I got back on our boats, but she had lost her paddle when she bailed. I had a crushing realization as she was helplessly floating downstream toward the rapids. I had to make an impossible decision, and I only had seconds to make it: I looked upstream at the dock and knew that Mia Beth might be trapped under it. I looked downstream at Riley Cate being carried toward dangerous water, alone and without a paddle. I started screaming for help.

Right then, a man appeared on the dock and started looking for Mia Beth. I reasoned that she would have a better chance with him helping on the dock than with me in the water. I wheeled around and began chasing after Riley Cate. Somehow I was able to grab her paddle, but by this time we were already 50 yards downstream from the dock. I pointed to a large rock on the shore and told Riley Cate to paddle as hard as she could to get to that rock. As she calmly and steadily paddled for shore, I told her I would be back as soon as I could.

I dug in and started paddling back upstream with all I had. I'm not sure how long it took for me to close that 50-yard gap against the current. The man on the dock kept looking back and forth, trying to see if Mia Beth would resurface from underneath the dock downstream. She did not. I finally saw him standing still, staring straight down into the water. About the time I pulled up into the dock, the man had pulled her up and she was standing on her own power.

When Mia Beth's boat flipped, it pinned her with her face against the dock. At the same time, her body was being tugged under the dock. Her shoes and glasses were gone. Being almost blind without her glasses, she was somehow able to reach up and grab the edge of the dock. Only her face was out of the water, with the current at her back and pulling at her entire body. Her pink shirt from that day is stained green with algae from the bottom of the dock.

She said afterward that while she was stuck there, she did her breathing exercises. I didn't understand what she meant for a day or two. Her head was mostly underwater the whole time, and she had to pull herself up for air. While underwater, she counted and paced herself to stay calm.

The man was initially unable to find her because she was underneath her boat. He finally heard her crying and was able to reach her, but the current was so strong that he couldn't just pull her straight up. He had to walk her to the edge of the dock, toward open water. When the current popped her legs free, he grabbed her by her life jacket and got her onto the dock just as I arrived.

I ran to her, crying. She asked me if I was okay. Kids, man.

The man who rescued her - the man who happened to be there prepping his boat for a fishing trip - was an off-duty firefighter and EMT.

He asked me and Mia Beth if he could check her for injuries. She had a blue bump forming on her forehead, probably from the kayak itself. She had abrasions on both legs from the bottom of the dock. She was very cold and scared, and she was okay.

I ran back downstream and got Riley Cate off her rock. We were all together again. An employee from the White Buffalo Resort office brought towels. Another lady gave Mia Beth her own shoes. The EMT's grandparents were camped at the top of the ramp and had seen the whole event unfold. They watched the girls while I went to the office to use the WiFi. I got a message to my parents for them to come retrieve us. Within 45 minutes, we were loaded, safe, and headed back to the cabin.

I have a few reasons for sharing this story. First, the EMT told me twice how strong and brave Mia Beth was. He said he'd worked lots of accidents where adults weren't as calm as she was. I told him some of Mia Beth's background, and things she's endured both mentally and physically. I told him that she's been airlifted twice with breathing difficulties, and how she had lost her mom to cancer.

He just said, "Yep... that'll do it."

I write to advise caution around water, but especially swift, unfamiliar water. Please don't do what I did. I should have asked more questions before we got on the river. I should have known about that shoal, and how we would handle it before we heard it. Thankfully Mia Beth was wearing a life jacket, and was wearing it correctly. That gave the EMT the hold he needed to lift her safely from the water.

Most importantly, I want to thank the EMT. I only know that he is from Cabot, and that his name is Austin. I hope he caught lots of fish that afternoon with his dad. I believe that he saved Mia Beth's life Wednesday, and I am forever grateful.

**UPDATE: About 24 hours after the original post, Cabot folks were able to locate the EMT, Austin Huhn with the Stuttgart, Arkansas fire department.**