living again

Since I remember myself, my family has grate habit – traveling all over the country on weekends.

Every Thursday evening we sit all in the kitchen and deciding what will be the destination this time.

Every Saturday we find ourselves in a different region, hiking in canyons, rivers or just having fun on a camping in Lake Kinneret.

All trips are kept in my hurt, but the June, 20_th 1998 Saturday I remember as it was yesterday.

We were in the way back home from a wonderful camping in Jordan River while deciding get off the road to a path way near Karkom settlement, north the Kinneret. This path goes along part of Jordan River called Jordan’s mountains and has an amazing view of the river, Kinneret, and the cliffs.

From the car we saw down the river a bridge which uses jeeps to cross over, and stopped for a brake.

One side of the bridge was in the level of the river while the other side was a 4 meters height waterfall.

It was drought year and there wasn’t so much water. My father suggested to wait for my on the bridge while I push myself towards it and he will catch me.

What we didn’t know that under the bridge there were 7 big pipes so the water can go through them and not flood the bridge.  Few meters before my father I was drown under the bridge through one of the pipes and 2 seconds later was shot like a bullet from a gun all the 4 meters on rocks.

It all happened very fast and I have 3 flashes in my head:

• the second I understood something is wrong

• the moment I found myself climbing on one of the rocks, on the other side of the bridge, still in shock, waiting for my father to help me stand and go back to the bank

• very fast memory inside the pipe taking deep breath before I bumped my head into something

After everything was over, we looked at the bridge from the side of the fall and found out that only half pipe was open while all 6 and a half other pipes blocked with alluvium and no water went through them. It was 1 to 14 chance to get out.

Unfortunately, 2 days later tween sisters drown in the same bridge but only one survived.

I don’t know if there is luck in this world but back in that Saturday someone or something had different plans for me.

plastoflippancy