Lesson learned !

On the day of May 16 2002 I was on a routine run around Enid lake just about dark thirty . I was a seasonal ranger by night and a teacher/coach at Oxford Schools by day . Anyways as Memorial day was approaching people were setting up campers in anticipation of the Holiday . I was traveling the Water Valley ramp road off hwy. 32 when I was flagged down by a boy on a bicycle . He could barely talk and was babbling about how they were going to drown ! I asked him , Who ? He pointed off the road to the East of the road and about 200 yds. out was a dark green large Allegro Bus . The water you see was extremely high that spring and was up to the shoulder of the road on both sides . The driver had passed out , ran off the road and the fuel cells allowed the bus to float out to a line of cypress tress that lined a gravel road . It was a helpless feeling to see the bus tilt to one side and sink . Once it had settled only the air conditioners were visible .As I prepared to enter the water I herd someone calling for help . It was not the owner but his brother in law who had been following to help set up camp. He had pulled the unconscious man through the large window and was headed back toward the road . I waded out with life jackets as he struggled to stay above water level . You see it was not hard because I knew where the road that traveled through the trees went , he did not . He insisted to go directly to the paved road and cross 15 ft. deep water than to trust me even though I was walking on a gravel road even though it was not obvious to him that I was not swimming . You see by now it is dark and he kept heading toward deeper water . Nothing to do but wade out and take the vest to him . Once I caught up to him and got him calm enough to follow me back to the submerged gravel road we made it , though barely . The man who passed out was now concise and thoroughly confused . It was around two that morning by the time the wrecker got the bus out of the water . The "new" bus white carpet had small bream/ catfish swimming in it and the cabinets were already warping as well as coming off the walls . I went home that night ,ate breakfast, showered and prepared to be on early duty that morning at 7:00 a.m. . I look back on that night as a lesson that sometimes we /I need to listen to others even though we think "I know" all the story . Both could have drown less than 10 ft. , from shallow water . Remember rangers have a job to do, like it or not, they are there for you . When you are not in compliance with rules and regs. and feel that the rangers are against you , you may not know what they just dealt with .I have thought about adding this story but never felt the need till Yesterday a kid got stranded at the lake when his 4 wheeler would not start and he was bad mouthing the C.O.E.because he had to walk so far (no cell service ) . Had he not rode around a gate he would have not gotten into a bad situation . Obey the rules . No hunting zones are just that !
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What a story, Coach- Glad y'all made it.

Wow, thanks for your service and for the powerful reminder.

Great story!

Awesome story