- Chandler Watson, Erin Watson's husband, almost died from shallow water drowning.
- Erin Watson, 28, had never heard of the condition before the incident over two years ago.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Erin Watson. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I never could have imagined that I'd almost lose my husband on a family vacation in North Carolina.
It was the summer of 2020 and Chandler and I were with some of his family members at a hotel on one of the islands there. He was in the pool and I was watching him from a sun lounger to the side.
Chandler, who was 27 at the time, was playing a game with his dad and sister, seeing how far they could swim from one end of the pool to the other without taking a breath. It was a game they had played dozens of times before on family holidays.
Chandler put on his goggles, took a breath, and started swimming underwater. He touched the end of the pool at the other side, but he stayed under.
When Chandler didn't come up from the water I thought it was part of the game
Bubbles came to the surface and at first I thought he was seeing what extra time he could spend underwater.
Chandler's mom started to get worried and ran to the side of the pool, shouting at her husband that something was wrong. For a few seconds I didn't understand why she was panicking. But then his dad went to pull him up and instantly we knew something was wrong.
The second his dad got him out of the water we could see his gray skin and blue lips. He was limp and lifeless. His dad checked his pulse and realized his heart had stopped, so he started performing CPR by the side of the pool.
I'd got up from the sun lounger but I was numb with fear and shock as I stared at what was happening. I couldn't make myself go over to where he was lying. It was difficult to comprehend. He'd been fine a few minutes before. It didn't seem real.
I watched for what felt like a lifetime as doctors tried to revive Chandler
Two guests who were sitting by the pool came over and said they were doctors and took over, while someone else phoned for paramedics. Five minutes went by and still there was no sign of life — it seemed like a lifetime.
As Chandler lay there lifeless, I still couldn't move. He had been clinically dead for five minutes and I felt hysterical.
The paramedics arrived a few minutes later and used defibrillators to try and shock his heart into starting. One suddenly shouted "there's a pulse." They took him to a local hospital where they did tests and he was allowed to go home after six hours.
We're lucky the doctors were by the poolside when it happened and started treating Chandler straight away. One told us that it had been a last minute decision for him and his family to go to the pool that day.
Doctors told us that he had been the victim of something called shallow water drowning. We had never even heard of it before.
The fatality rate for this type of incident is high, because there are no signs of distress. It can kill someone in around 2.5 minutes, which is much faster than regular drowning.
Shallow water drowning happens because holding your breath like Chandler did before he went underwater can play a trick on the mind. It keeps the carbon dioxide levels in the body extremely low, blocking the brain's signal that it needs to breathe. The person can then blackout before they know what is happening, which is why shallow water drowning is also known as shallow water blackout.
Chandler has no memory of almost dying
It has been just over two years since the incident and Chandler, now 29, doesn't remember anything about it, but it's had a lasting impression on our family.
We played lots of pool games and we know that lots of other families do the same, which is why we want to raise awareness of this phenomenon. We could have easily lost Chandler that day.
Shallow water drowning can cause heart problems, but after a serious of tests, Chandler has been given a clean bill of health.
Recently he became a daddy for the first time. Our son James was born in August this year and Chandler is so grateful that he was given the chance to be a father. We want to carry on raising awareness so no other family has to go through what we did.