The reason that we won't forget this holiday.............Cooper almost drowned. Have you ever had a moment in life where in one split second, something goes horribly wrong and the fight is on to save a loved one's life? Well, that's exactly what happened to us.
There was a pirate ship moored at the Port Fairy pier which Cooper wanted to check out. It wasn't open to jump on and view, but you could get a good look at it just from walking along the pier. We had just been for a walk to the lighthouse and I had decided to put Charlie in the car and was sitting with the car going - in park, handbrake on. Will and Cooper were walking along the pier - Will was at one end and Cooper at the other. I didn't take my eyes off Cooper the whole time, I'm extremely paranoid about accidents happening. Cooper turned to walk back towards Will, tripped and fell backwards, somersaulting underneath the railing and falling a couple of metres into the water. My eyes went straight to Will, expecting him to be running, but he wasn't doing anything, he hadn't seen Coops fall out of sight. I started running from the car, screaming at Will, which at this stage he had just heard the splash and was running too. Throwing the backpack down, he ran to the end to spot where Cooper was, he didn't want to jump on top of him. He could just see the top of his head, he was trying to tread water, but was going down. Wearing jeans, a hoodie and sneakers, he was weighted quite heavily - and this water was deep. Will was in the water before I got to the end of the pier, that run for me is quite a blur, I know I screamed, as to how loud, I don't think I will ever know. I was hanging over the edge and couldn't seem them - "have you got him, have you got him" I remember screaming - then I heard crying, petrified screaming and Cooper and Will had surfaced. Will had pushed him to the surface first, desperate to get his airways out of the water. They were clinging to one of the pier posts to catch their breaths. A nice fisherman came over and asked if they could make it to the ladder, he met them there and helped carry Cooper up. In all of the panic, we don't know if we ever thanked that kind man. Our focus was on getting them both safe and warm. Cooper was more worried about daddies shoes and hat floating away. Will lost a thong and his mobile phone didn't survive either, but nothing, nothing was more important at that moment, then saving our little boys life. Cooper then cried "where's Charlie?" How he was so worried about his little brother after all he had just been through, I will never know. Little Charlie was crying in the car which I had left running, door open, in the mad rush.
We took Cooper back days later to see if he wanted to go on the Pirate ship, but he wouldn't get out of the car. He was scared he would fall in the water. Even when I was taking the photo's, he was screaming out "be careful mummy, you don't want to fall in the water".
Cooper talks daily about how he fell in the water. How he splashed, got wet and daddy saved his life. We talk about it when he raises it, I have no idea what is going through his mind, he is only 3.5 years old. All as I know, he was one scared, petrified little wet boy, any longer and it would have been an intense rescue mission to save his life. That night he fell asleep in between both of us, I held his hand and snuggled into his face. I needed to hold him, smell him, know that he was ok.
He hasn't slept on his own since, he jumps in his sleep, wants to cuddle, wants comfort.
And each night as I am trying to drift off to sleep, all as I see his my beautiful boy, tripping, falling into the water - I constantly relive it, over and over, tears welling in my eyes.
I know it will take time to feel safe, to heal and move on - in the mean time, we just keep thanking our lucky stars that we are all safe.
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