I Survived Being Caught In A Mudslide(泥石流)

It was May 2018, and my boyfriend, Gabe Smith, and I were driving from my home in Weyburn, to visit friends in Nelson.

At around 5:30 p.m., we were driving along the Crowsnest Highway, a steep and winding mountain road. I was texting my mother when I happened to look up in time to see a huge tree in front of us on the highway. It was being pushed down by a torrent (洪流) of mud that was swallowing everything in its path. We didn’t know about the recent flooding in the area, and now we were trapped in it. Gabe and I looked at each other unbelievably and said, “Oh, god.” Within seconds, our car was rolling 30 meters down the cliffside (悬崖边).

I don’t know how long we were unconscious (昏迷的), but I woke up to the sound of Gabe moaning (呻吟). He laid beside me and his blood was everywhere.

Our car had landed on a small area among trees that had come down with the mudslide. On one side of us was the mountain. On the other, a steep drop of about 1,000 meters into a river.

I tried opening my door with a sharp pain in the chest. In addition, my left ankle had been broken. Gabe had broken his nose and cheek, as well as his chest bone, leaving him blind in his left eye and having difficulty in breathing.

As the doors were crashed out of shape, and my window failed to be opened, the only way out was through the driver’s side window. Although it was difficult and painful, we both managed to get out of it.

We sat on a rock with no phone signal, realizing all we could do was shout for help.

With the help of them, we finally reached the highway at around 8:00 p. m.

There are many friendships in the world that cannot be measured by money, and the friendship between teachers and students belongs to one of them.

In the 1980s, when I was teaching at a high school in the western United States, I met a student named Daniel. He was a great kid from a tough neighborhood. Drugs, fighting and poverty: You name the problem and his neighborhood must have it.

His parents ran a small farm. They were busy all day and night and had no time to take his studies and hobbies into account. A scholarship fund provided his tuition to Catholic High, where he was a great baseball player.

Daniel struggled in the classroom, though. He was bright, but just left behind due to a difficult home environment. After school tutoring seemed impossible because of baseball practice. Some suggested Daniel give up sports and concentrate on study. But, in reality, if he was going to attend college he would need his sports; so to miss practice and then perform any less than at his best on the field was not wise.

Daniel had a gentle personality and studied very hard. He got along well with his classmates in class, He respected his teachers, who were very concerned about his study. A fellow teacher, Mrs. Jones, offered to tutor Daniel in math at her home. I asked Daniel to come to my house for other subjects. No one paid us. Mrs. Jones summed it up this way: “Pay day doesn’t always come on Mondays,

When we were not working with Daniel to improve his skills for the ACT (American College Test), the coach and Daniel’s dad took him to various colleges to talk with both baseball and football program coaches, He chose the college that offered him scholarships to play both sports. But he needed a good ACT score.

It took months to receive the results of ACT.

“I guess you got your scores!” I asked excitedly.

One fall evening, 13-year-old Briar Omar agreed to look after his four younger sisters when his parents went to the grocery store to pick up the family dinner. The parents were confident that responsible big brother Briar with their protective dog called Mandy, was capable of managing the family in their absence. During that brief time, an unexpected thing happened: The home suddenly went up in flames(火焰). It was up to Briar and Mandy to save his family.

The children smelled smoke soon after their parents left for the store. They turned around to search for where the fire came from and were shocked and frightened to find their baby sister’s playpen(玩耍护栏) on fire.

The first thought that came to Briar’s mind was to rescue his little sisters. The family had previously discussed what to do in the face of danger, so he was prepared to act.

In a few minutes, flames were climbing the ceiling(天花板). Smoke was filling up the hallways. The horrible fire quickly spread throughout the home.

Briar remained calm and focused on the urgent task of saving his four younger sisters: Peyton, 12, Jocelyn, 3, Willow, 1, and 6-month-old baby Sawyer. He quickly picked up the two babies and rushed the older sisters out of the door to safety. After making sure his sisters were far away from the danger and breathing in fresh air, he ran back to save their home despite the flames surrounding him.

He quickly held the fire extinguisher(灭火器) from the kitchen and tried to put out the flames.

Briar cheered up immediately and managed to escape from the fire to safety with the dog following the way.

As is illustrated in the chart,

After graduating from university, I decided to become a pilot and fly commercially. I chose a flying school which had a good reputation, enrolled and joined a class of six other trainees. We completed our ground school, where we were taught all the information we would need to fly an aircraft safely. The basics included the controls of the aircraft, its instruments and the rules we would have to obey while in the air.

Our instructors were all professional pilots and were very knowledgeable but also very strict. It was difficult for them to accept inaccuracy, so we were required to get Straight-A’s in each test. It was explained to us that we could not afford to make an error as it could cost lives, so, to get my license, I doubled my efforts, learning the meaning of the word “thorough”.

Later we had 10 hours of hands-on lessons in an exact model aircraft, a “simulator”. My instructor sat next to me, watching my every move, always with a serious look. Sometimes I thought he over-reacted to my small mistakes.

The time arrived for us to take to the air for the first time. My instructor was an experienced pilot having flown big jets but was nearing retirement. As we went to take off, he pointed out the control tower and told me there was always a person on duty there for emergencies. I nodded firmly, but I never thought there was a chance I would have to call him on the radio.

We were away from our airfield and practising basic turns at about 6, 000 feet. Everything was going smoothly. Suddenly, my instructor started to shake and he put in his hand on his chest with his head falling forward. Thankfully, in control of the aircraft at that time, I steadied the aircraft and turned to look at him anxiously. He seemed to be unconscious. Our lives were in danger, and I had to put aside my uneasiness. It flashed into my mind that situations like this had been covered in ground school.

Armed with what I had learned, I quickly became much calmer.

Lying on the bed in the hospital, my instructor opened his eyes and saw me sitting beside him.