Alexi screamed her relief, still repeating Alex’s name. I didn’t realize it at the time, but her emotion and actions were somehow different than they should had been. At the time I was busy saving my son’s life, but upon reflection, Alexi actions and cries were more like a wife or maybe even a girlfriend verses a sister or an aunt.
As his head popped out of the window hole and was again above the water line, allowed me for the first time to take a deep breath, but I knew we were still working against the clock. Alex was blue with chalky white streaks spider webbing across his face and neck. A frozen drowning is no pretty site. My next dilemma was that the more I got him out of the water, the heavier he became for me. Even with super mom strength, I could only pull him so far up out of the water. Alexi finally got her shit together and reached over me, taking a handful of jacket. Between the two of us, Alex unconscious body began to pull out of the water. Because of the lack of room, I literally just pulled his wet frozen body right on top of mine.
Now you may think by reading this that I was James Bond cool and collect in a crisis. In reality I was screaming and crying hysterically as I wrapped my arms around his chest. I was swearing out loud to whatever God or Angel that would help me. I now understand what people mean that they made a deal with the devil. I would have signed any contract in blood if it would have saved my boy’s life. I knew then, that if we could get him to breathe again, I would never let him go.
Spinning around, I ignored the shock of the numbing water as it enveloped my lower legs. Pushing on the back door upward, I desperately tried to move Alex up towards the front of the Jeep again. I was now as wet as Alex was and was shivering violently.
This last Herculean effort with Alexi getting a new grip on Alex, got all of us out of the water and back into our cab.
I had no doubt that Alex was dead, where Alexi and I breath was freezing moisture around our face, there just was no frozen breath coming from his blue white lips.
“You can’t be dead God damn it! Come on Alex, breath for me!” Alexi cried.
We slowly slid his body uphill on the hood of the cab, getting as much distance from the water as we could. I did this by crab crawling on my back by sliding upward. Alex was tucked between my legs and my arms, all wrapped under his limp arms and around his lower chest. Alexi pushed upward by grabbing the front of his winter jacket. This crazy maneuver actually was pushing water out of his lungs each time we lunged forward. My arms would compress upward like a Heimlich maneuver, with Alexi hands acting like a chest compression. While focusing on moving Alex away from the frozen water, it also acted like a water rescue. Alex began coughing up water on his own.
“What do we do? What do I do?” Alexi cried out in surprise and happiness. I tried to think but it was like my mind was in a funk. Hypothermia effects your ability to think clearly and it was a miracle that I was able to keep moving forward. It was like normal me was stuck inside my brain screaming at myself to not stop and keep moving.