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Conor McKay
"His eyes locked on me. He came towards me. Somebody helped me to reach out further - I finally got him. He would not die!"
The Story
I Jumped over the fence and stood at the river's edge. I saw the man in the river. The water was brown and dirty. I saw his head bobbing up and down. His arms were faliling. This boy was drowning. I Saw his hand disappear underneath the water again and again
The story continues...
"I often think of the man I saw in the river in that day, and what has become of him since. The last time I saw him he was lying on the pavement by the Annadale embankment, surrounded by paramedics, policemen and onlookers from the nearby flats, wrapped in that tinfoil stuff they put round you to keep you warm.
I just needed to get away from it all, and so drifted off to walk towards Stranmillis - I didn't even know his name.
He was constantly on my mind over the next couple of days, mostly as I tried to come to terms with what I had seen, and to try and work out in my mind how he could have done such a thing. I even thought about phoning round the Belfast hospitals to see if I could find out how he was, but I knew it would have been a fruitless exercise, I knew nothing about him, and I never did find out.
In hindsight, I think the reason I thought so much about it is because I was becoming unhappy with my own life at that point - I felt like I had fallen into a rut since leaving University and didn't have any plan or sense of direction. I was stuck in the same part-time job I'd had throughout college, and basically had no idea where my life was going.
Deep down I was terrified that if I didn't take stock of my life, well - it never crossed my mind that I would ever try to do what he did, but I certainly didn't want to wait around allowing my life to drift anymore, I needed to make changes.
I began to take better stock of myself, and left my old job, taking my first full-time, "proper" job, and for the first time in my life began to have a clear sense of what I wanted to do, and goals to aim towards.
Mostly though, I began to just appreciate life, I had seen how easily it could be taken from you.
Of course, like everyone, I still have my ups and downs in life, but now if I ever feel low I just think of what I saw that day, and it really helps put everything in perspective, and to remind me of what's really important in life."
Comments
Name: Denis Shortall
Date: 17/11/2007
Comment: Your actions that day when presented with unforseen circumstance, may have seemed impossible at first but a "force majeure" welled up within you and a life was saved - truly a life-long memorable deed! Well done!
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