My heart skipped a beat when I heard the news and my eyes welled with tears.

When I went to volunteer search and rescue meetings I never thought about how it would feel to be called out to search for a six-year-old who fell in the river and went missing.

It was simply an accident…One second he was playing on the big rocks that were sprinkled along the shoreline and the next second he fell in. It happened that fast. The babysitter, watching him get pulled under the swirling waters, must have been frantic.

(But there was nothing that could have been done! –The waters in that area are treacherous for people of any age…even an occasional passing Kayaker has found himself tipped over and sucked under rocks, or dragged with the current while being upside down and frantically trying to get upright.)

While the search for the boy continued, for family and friends it was the not knowing that brought them to their knees in helplessness—a nightmare that was unraveling their world.

An hour later that little boy, who had simply been enjoying spring break, was found downriver.

But his parents, his siblings, other family members and friends, had the excruciating task of saying goodbye.

I’m so sorry for your loss…you must really be hurting.

Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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