Angels In The Water

Shearer Family Reunion at Bear Lake!

What happens when sudden winds hit the lake and 4 boys had only been a few yards away? Adults are rendered helpless and the only rescue lies in the hands of Angels.

Left to right...Case 5, Tate 6, Cameron 6, Austin 8

These four boys, along with Jace, Janika, ReAnnan, two babies, (Cort, and Kimbrey). and 3 adults, (Kelle, Justin, and Channie) were waste deep in water when it started getting just a little chilly. Kelle and Justin brought the two babies ashore just as furious winds hit the lake. The wind blew beach chairs, umbrellas, and tubes into the water. Us parents ran to grab canopies that were blowing every which way, when we all turned to see two tubes, with children who couldn't swim and had no life jackets, carried far off to danger. We sent Justin, Kelle, and Bud to the rescue knowing that Justin was a life guard and Kelle was an incredible swimmer. We watched helplessly on shore as we watched the swimmers become only dots in the water. Bud knew that the only hope we had of a rescue was with a boat. He came back and saw a boat in the water. He checked for keys and began pushing it into the lake knowing there was no time to find the owner. Jace, Janika, and ReAnnan had made it back to shore by this time. They had been out with the kids, but jumped boat when the winds hit and they knew they were in trouble. Jace knew that the little boys in the tubes needed a boat and his first mission, when he got back to shore was to find a boat owner. He had already asked the boat owner for help when Bud began pushing the boat in the water. He jumped in as Bud continued pushing. There was a sigh of relief as we adults on the shore watched the boat get ready to leave, but panic set in when they had a hard time getting started because of the wind. The two tubes with children inside were now barely visible in the water.

On shore we all realized that Channie was with them, at least when everyone last checked, and we just prayed that some how she had everything under control. Justin was getting farther away from shore but not gaining any head way on the run away tubes. Kelle began back stroking when Justing borrowed her tube and she was left without any flotation devise.

That's when we noticed another boat that had come from out of nowhere. They seemed to be heading towards the children but they were so far away, we could only pray that they realized the tubes were full of helpless children who couldn't swim. Peace set in as 3 boats headed towards us. (A third boat just showed up.) None of us knew which boat to run to and check if the children were safe. Pretty soon cries from Jace were heard by everyone but me, I was concentrating on the third boat because I couldn't see any children anywhere, "Tate is not on the boat! Tate is not here! We're missing Tate." At that moment two arms came up behind me and hugged me tight. It was a very teary eyed TATE! "Mom, I'm so glad Satan came in second place today and Jesus won. Mom, it was suppose to be a fun day! Why did the wind come? I was so scared! It was suppose to be a fun day!" Tate cried. "I was so scared and Channie couldn't save us. I never want to come here again. That is too big of a lake. I never want to see that yellow tube again. I will never ride in that yellow tube again!!!" I listened to him as his little lip just quivered.

After we got all the kids back, we piled in cars and headed back to Immigration, where we were camped. Tate began to tell the story from his point of view. Tate said, "All the sudden we kept going up and up and up on the waves and the mountain got closer and closer. We yelled for Channie to get us, but she didn't. Case started crying." Tate said, "We had enough water to drink, but I didn't know when we would eat again, so I jumped out of the tube to see if I could touch the bottom like I could just a second before we were taken away. I couldn't. Then Austin, (Tate's down syndrome cousin), jumped out and he was having a hard time so I had to hold him up. Case pulled his arms and I pushed his bottom and we got him back in the tube. Then I asked Austin to help me but he wouldn't, so Case pulled me in by my arms. Then I started to cry. Mom, why didn't you send a boat mom? That was a good thing that Bud did. When the boat picked us up, they told us to sit down low, so I sat underneath the table because I was afraid I would blow away. (That is why Jace couldn't find Tate when the boats first came ashore.) I'm so glad Jesus won. It was suppose to be a fun day, but I didn't have any fun."
5 Year old Case. What a smart and brave little boy to pull the two boys back in the tube. Moments before the winds hit, Jace was trying to get into the tube in waste deep water. He tried time and time again, but could never get into the tube. It's not an easy task to get from the water, into a tube. The only explanation of Cases' abilities are the angels that helped him. Thank heavens he didn't jump out also or the tube would have flipped.

All three of the boys knew that their only rescue could come from a boat. None of them hesitated to get out of the tube and into a boat full of strangers. The men in the boat, held the tube while the boys escaped successfully, but as the last boy left the tube, the wind blew the tube out the of hands of the rescuers and flipped about 40 times. How the tube didn't flip before is only explainable by the unseen help.

Channie was the only adult with the children when this frightening incident occurred. She was only feet away from both tubes. She sent Jace, Janika, and ReAnnan back to shore and swam with all her might to the closes tube. It was Cameron's blue tube that she caught. (Her 6 year old son.) It took everything she had to grab onto his tube. The instant she grabbed him, she tried to side stroke to the other three boys. It was absolutely impossible to reach them and she had nothing left to give. She watched helplessly as three boys held their hands over the side of the tube and yelled, "Channie, save us!" Austin, the 8 year old with down syndrome, was one of the endangered.

She watched helplessly as the three boys were carried farther and farther away. Then to add to the horror, she watched Tate jump from the tube. She screamed with all her might for him to get back in. As she was exhausting her own rescue efforts by screaming so loud, she then witnessed her own son jump from the tube. She watched as waves crashed over his head and he began bobbing up and down in the water. Her screams of advise were all in vain with the sound of the wind and water drowning her out, so she directed her screams to heaven. She begged the Lord to save the babies!!! It was her prayer that called down angels. She was able to see two boys pulled to the safety of the yellow tube. Cameron realized that something was wrong when Channie began screaming towards heaven, but still thought the ride to the middle of the lake was pretty neat.

After, what seemed like an eternity, a boat, from nowhere approached Channie and tried to get her to climb in. "Save the babies!!!" She shouted as she pointed to the yellow tube. "Save the babies!!!" She screamed. Not questioning her request, the boat drove to the other tube. Soon after she watched the successful rescue of the three boys, the other boat, with Bud at the helm, picked up her and Cameron. The driver returned to shore, picking up Justin on the way back. Back on shore Channie broke down and cried, "That's the scariest thing that has ever happened to me." She then said that she has lived on the beach her entire life, growing up in California and then living there with her children. She spends, at least, three days a week at the beach. She's been swept out to sea before, and she's seen Janika swept out to sea, but she said, "That is by far the most terrified I have ever been, because the three boys were so helpless and there was nothing I could do to save them or get help."

Talking to her the next day she said, "I learned something about myself that really surprised me. I always thought that if my children were in trouble, I would save them first and then try an save others. When I was watching that tube, full of boys that couldn't swim, I cared as much for each one of them as I did, for my own son. If I could have only saved one, I couldn't have made a decision."

The yellow tube that Tate will never take another ride in.

The blue tube that Cameron took a ride in and Channie held onto the side. Cameron kept telling Channie that he saved her. We all laughed but it actually did save Channie. If she didn't have something to hand onto she most likely could not have lasted in the waves. When the winds started she let go of the little yellow tube she was holding onto to swim faster towards Cameron. Her yellow tube blew out of sight never to be seen again. Plus, she at least had strength to stay afloat knowing that she might be able to save one person's life.

Tate made the comment two or three times that he wished he could have traded places with Cameron and been in the blue tube while Cameron would have taken a ride in the yellow tube.

Two year old Kimbrey had been in the yellow tube just moments before it sailed away.=

Taylee and Case enjoying warm water and good weather 30 minutes before winds hit hard.

Taylee was my reason for keeping calm while watching Tate float away. First of all I couldn't really tell what was going on out in the lake because the tubes were gone so fast. I really did think that maybe Channie had everything under control. Then Taylee was crying because of the fierce winds, so I had to console her the whole time, keeping panic from totally setting in.

Later on that evening, back at camp, we sat around the camp fire and had everyone share their personal stories of their experience on the lake. It was really tender and amazing to see that everyone their had been inspired and had their own role in the rescue of those children. After we sat around the fire and sang primary and church songs. Tate thanked everyone for singing church songs because it made him feel so much better. Back in the tent Tate stuttered with a point he was trying to make. "Mom, when I was in the yellow tube I wanted to save myself more than my cousins." I was kind of hurt that he didn't realize they all had to help each other, but then he added. "Because I really wanted to see you again. And I think my cousins wanted to save themselves more than me so they could see their mom's again." Okay, that was pretty tender to a mom.