Arriving in Florida was exactly what Steve was dreaming about and needed. His high school track was on his mind, but he couldn't help loving the warm Florida spring breezes. The next morning Steve woke up, eager to start his workout, and so he headed to the beach. Before setting his feet on the sandy beach, Steve made sure that he left his cell phone and his keys on the pool deck with his parents, the only possession he would take would be a stop watch.


He said to his mom, “I’m going for a run on the beach like Coach told me too.”

His mom replied with her usual concerned response, “Okay, but make sure you’re being careful and safe.” It was a beautiful morning on the ocean for a long run. Before Steve started running, his coach’s demands came to his memory,


“Steve, you must do the same intense workouts that the team will be doing.” Coach Johnson had a strict schedule for Steve of exactly what he would have to do to keep up.

So Steve had replied,

“Of course, Coach you know I will do whatever you want.” After all, if the coach set a standard, he would always adhere to what the coach set. Pausing, he took a long look at the ocean waves as pounded the sun lit sandy shore.


Starting his stopwatch, he began his sprint down the soft beach. As Steve ran down the beach, he felt great and certainly strong enough for a long distance run, and then suddenly, an unusual shortness of breath came upon him. Steve could run no further, and he dropped to his knees feeling very dizzy. Steve soon fell backward laying on the hard sand staring into the glistening ocean. With no one in sight, he knew that this would be the last sunrise he would ever see. This was a feeling that Steve never felt before, a feeling of pure helplessness. Steve knew that he had a serious issue, and their was nothing he could do.


A passer by happened to come upon Steve as he laid on the sandy shore. When the passer by, an older heavy set man, realized Steve was unconscious, the man ran to the water, ripped his shirt off and through it in the salty water to absorb as much as water he could. The man quickly ran back to Steve and twisted his water soaked t-shirt over Steve so he could get as much water onto Steve as he could.

As the man was trying to revive Steve he shouted,

“Please help, someone call 911.” The older man squeezes all the water out he could, he looks up to see a man approaching on his cellphone. One more time the older man shouted for help. The passer by, named Bill, quickly got off his phone call and asked,

“What happened, should I call 911?”
The older man said,

“Yes quick, this kid is not breathing!” Bill quickly dialed 911 and answered all the questions the operator’s asked. As the operator was talking to Bill, she told Bill,

“You most start CPR immediately!” Bill did exactly what the operator told him to do. Bill worked feverishly doing compressions on Steve’s chest. With help and support from the older passer by, they were hoping they were doing the right thing. The older man said to Bill,

“Don't give up now, I hear the ambulance coming.” The words of support gave Bill the strength he needed to carry on. Suddenly, Bill too heard the sirens coming down the beach. As the ambulance came to a stop, Bill shouted out,

“He’s breathing!” The older man even shouted to the E.M.T.’s,

“Come quick he’s starting to breath!”


As the Emergency team raced to where Steve lay, they could see Steve had started to come too. The emergency technicians started to take his vital signs to make sure Steve was able to move. The emergency technicians said,

“We need to take this young man to the hospital to make sure he is 100% stable.” Bill then asked,

“Will he be okay?” The E.M.T. responded,

“His signs are weak, but stable, so hopefully so. You guys did a great job, we could use you on our team. This young kid is very lucky you two came alone to save his life.” While they put Steve onto the stretcher they kept oxygen flowing to keep Steve’s vital signs stable. The E.M.T. loaded Steve into the ambulance and took off toward the hospital. While in the ambulance, Steve’s skin color started to come back to normal, and a smile soon appeared to come on his face. One of the E.M.T.’s said to Steve,

“What’s your name Son?”

“Steve Smith,” Steve replied. Then the E.M.T. asked,

“Do you remember what happened just now?”

Steve answered,

“Yes, I was running on the beach and I started feeling really lightheaded, and thats all I remember.” The E.M.T. said back to Steve,

“You are one lucky guy, there were too very great people that started your breathing, and they probably saved your life.”

“WOW” Steve replied. Steve then said to the E.M.T,

“It’s funny, I sort of remember falling to my knees and looking at the beautiful sunrise and wondering if this was the last one I would ever see!”