ABOUT WOMEN
Averting an encounter with death helps you appreciate life

By Tanya Bricking Leach
Advertiser Staff Writer

No spirit left my body and hovered over me.

It was just an accident — one of those things that sends you to the emergency room and leaves you to count your blessings.

Just before Christmas, my husband (of just three weeks) and I set out to go scuba diving. We went on a boat dive off Hawai'i Kai with guides who were going to help our group explore sea caves.

It sounded cool. But I never made it to the good part.

I was having trouble equalizing the water pressure in my ears as we went down, and I kept holding my nose trying to clear them. Holding my nose just made things worse, though, because my mask suctioned against my face with a painful squeeze. The only thing I could think to do was pull the mask off my face. Of course, the mask filled with water and I couldn't remember what I was supposed to do to clear it.

My husband was right there, trying to calm me down 65 feet under water. My instinct was to get the hell out of there.

I resisted my husband's tugs to keep me down and shot to the surface. Once I reached the boat, I thought my headache would subside and I'd be fine. But I started to worry when other divers noticed that the whites of my eyes were turning blood red.

I skipped the second dive and wasn't reassured that I'd ever try this sport again when my husband returned to the boat with a sting from a sea urchin. Maybe the ocean was trying to tell us something.

Once we were back on land, I called my insurance provider's nurse and told her what happened. She told me to get myself to the hospital immediately. There, a doctor examined the effects of barotrauma by looking at my red eyes and hemorrhaged ears and checking me out for any signs of decompression sickness. Luckily, I could see and hear, and I didn't do any permanent damage. I just felt like my head exploded and looked like somebody beat me up.

I'm just glad it wasn't worse. When I think of what could have happened (namely, death), I'm just grateful to be here.

I guess moments like this are supposed to make you appreciate life a little more. The difference between women and men is that I'm writing a sappy column about it while my guy is quietly pulling out splinters left by the sea urchin.

Not that I have anything to prove to the ocean, but we bought a sea kayak the other day at a neighbor's yard sale. I think I'll appreciate the view from the top of the water rather than underneath it.

I also have a new appreciation for sunglasses. Hiding behind them until my eyes look normal seems like a small sacrifice. Without them, I think I've scared small children and made a waiter think I've suffered domestic violence. My apologies to my husband ...

And my respect to the sea.

Reach Tanya Bricking Leach at 525-8026 or tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com.