A Days Work Wthout Pay, By Don Briscoe

Don Briscoe
1945 to 1949

A Days Work Without Pay

This story begins in Huntington Beach just south of the pier. My wife was a big sun buff and loved the beach. Now that our three daughters are grown and I no longer had to watch them in the water, one would think that I could have a nice relaxing day at the beach. But as all ex-lifeguards know, once a lifeguard always a lifeguard. On this particular day a group of six, two adults and four teenagers spread their towels next to ours. As soon as the teenagers were dripping with perspiration, two boys made a dash for the water. The front runner made a belly slide and was semi-submerged when his buddy, running behind him, jumped up and land with both feet on his friends back. This was so much fun that he jumped in the air and again and pounced on him once again. At this point my lifeguard training took over and I sprinted into the water and shoved the standing teenager off of the victim. I reached down and turned the young boy over so that his face was out of the water. He was breathing and as I supported his head and back, he looked at me with his big sad eyes and said, “Please help me.” I carried him to the beach and by then the local lifeguard was there. They transported him to the hospital. I walked back to where my wife was and one of the adult women said to me, “My son didn’t really mean to hurt Billy.” I said to her, “We can only hope that his neck is not broken.” Unfortunately I read in the paper the next day that Billy’s neck was broken and that he was totally paralyzed.

I am 77 years old and I still cannot go to the beach without lifeguarding