I Heard God Speak

July 24, 2006 my daughter Faith's 1st birthday, we set out for a day at the beach. We took a wrong turn and came upon a beach that looked nice and decided to stay anyway. We changed into our suits, got our beach tags, and walked to an open spot and spread our things out. My brother Sterling,two of my sons Dayequan and Troy went straight into the water. I had laid down to enjoy the warmth of the sun but got up when my daughter Serenity came back from the water, as we were talking I heard the lifeguard blow her whistle. Looking up I saw all the kids so dismissed the sound until I heard the sound becoming adamant. I looked up and the lifeguard was standing on the podium and pointing, looking in that direction I saw the boys getting close to the jetty but noticed their father close and figured that he would get after them. Turning back to play with Faith and Serenity but hearing the whistle again I looked up and saw the lifeguard in the water with her buoy and my heart began to beat a little stronger. I stood up to have a better view and saw MY son's head bob up and down next to the rocks. I saw his father trying to reach him and then the waves throw him into the rocks. Troy's head bobbed up and down again and I wanted to go to him but hesitant to leave the baby on the beach I paused. Then I heard God clearly say You go get your son, they won't be able to find him. I calmly said to Serenity, watch Faith for me I'll be right back. Ok I'll watch her, she responded. Knowing she would do just that I took off running down the beach and leaped the water like hurdles until I got caught by a wave and went down. When I reached the place where I had last seen Troy I looked around and saw no sign of him, I saw the lifeguard waving her arms and yelling frantically Where Is He, Where Is He? I began to Say Lord Help Me, Help Me Find My Son. Allowing him to lead me without question I began to climb the rocks and fell. Getting back up I kept going, the waves were coming stronger and knocked me down, determined I called on my God again, Lord help me find my son, while getting up. A few more steps and a huge wave smacked the glasses off my face and I was knocked down again. Refusing to let my son drown I stood up again and despite the loss of my glasses I saw clearly my son's arm rise above the water and I swear I could hear him calling out for help. Without hesitation I jumped off the rocks in his direction and reached for him expecting to lay hands on his body and shocked to feel nothing but the water. Earnestly I looked for him, I knew he was near. I prayed, God Please! A wave came and I saw Troy's leg floating, quickly I grabbed it and pulled him up out of the water. He was lifeless. I threw him on my shoulder as if he were a newborn baby, looking to the heaven I squeezed him tightly to get some water out, and hopefully get some air in and thanked God for leading me to him. Knowing Troy needed more help than I could provide, I turned around to go back to the shore and was met by two lifeguakrds who said Mamm, please let us have him. I handed him over and began yelling to God, You save my son, You save my son! I felt extreme thankfulness but could only yell my command at that moment. I got back to the shore and Dayequan was hysterical and wanted to come and see how his brother was doing some people that were holding him back asked if he could come over and I yelled yes but saw how distraught he was and yelled back only if he is calm. Sterling came instead and knelt down next to us. The lifeguards did not have a pulse but began CPR, I began to rub his leg and call to him Troy come on you can do it, come on Troy. The crowd that had gathered around picked up his name and began to root for him as well. After the first round they got a light pulse, continuing the CPR some foam came out of his nose but still he was not breathing, picking the CPR back up, more foam came from his nose and some from his mouth and Troy took a breath on his own and began to cough. Then he began a low moan that slowly turned into a yell, as if he were picking up where he left off crying for help. The beach erupted in cheers and clapping. I heard the lifeguard say oh my God mam are you ok? Confused I looked at him like what? He pointed to my leg then I looked down to see my legs covered in blood, but I didn't feel anything. Brushing it off I looked to make sure Troy was still breathing. After the lifeguards had strapped him to the board to carry him to the ambulance I allowed the lifeguard to take me to the side and patch me up a little. After the bandaging I went to check on my other children and found that people on the beach had stepped up and watched over Dayequan, Serenity, Devin, and Faith. I asked a young lady with Faith if she minded watching her for a little longer and started looking to see where Troy had been taken. A police officer walked up to me and asked was I the boy's mother and I answered yes, where did they take him? He said, to the ambulance up there. I told the officer that I had lost my glasses and could not see so he led me to the ambulance. On the ride to the hospital Troy was non responsive to touch or voice but I knew that he was through the worst part of it and was not worried. I felt so thankful for the mercy that God had shown to me and my family doubt that he was not going to recover never had the chance to enter in. The lifeguards estimated that Troy had been under the water from 3 to 5 minuets. The doctors were worried but I was not. They wanted to keep him for 3 to 4 days. We were discharged after 24 hours and my son walked out of the hospital on his own.

I'd like to express my Extreme Gratitude to the lifeguards on duty in the Borough of Spring Lake, NJ

ALYISSA DETALO- First in the water

ADAM SEXTON

SHIELA IRVING- CPR

JAMES WLADCH- CPR Assist

THANK YOU FOR HELPING TO SAVE MY SON'S LIFE!

I found this going through some papers and wanted to share this testament to God's Grace.

Troy drew this when he returned to daycare. If you look close you will see three figures under the water. I asked him if the middle one was an angel. His answer was no but he had no answer as to who the third figure was.

The words say:
On Monday I went to the Beach and I almost drowned and my mom saved me.

This is a drawing of the jetty. Where I climbed is the second level of rocks on the jetty. I climbed up from the right side, the arrow points to where I was knocked down repeatly and lost my glasses.