Eight diverse strangers talking together can create some unusual conversation topics. One of the odd ones was the morbid discussion between JD Ordonez, Chet Cannon, and Baya Voce on their preferred cause of death. JD stated that drowning would be the worst way to die, but Chet disagreed, saying he thought it would be the best. He said that as you lose oxygen it becomes soothing. Ryan Conklin, listening nearby, agreed with Chet's assessment, and said he knew it to be true from personal experience. Ryan then began to tell the story of when he came very close to drowning in a flooded sewer pipe. The situation had occurred in June, 2005, when Ryan was in part one of his Army life. He and some friends had been drinking, and they foolishly decided to take advantage of major flooding from a tropical storm by water tubing through some drainage pipes. Ryan and his buddies Vinnie and Avery went through one of them several times and they thought it was fun as they shot through it like a chute at a water park.
Then they decided to try out another pipe. They chose it because it ran for a long distance under a roadway.
What they failed to think about was that drainage pipes often have debris in them and this particular one, unbeknownst to the three friends, had a lot of it hidden halfway down its core. Vinnie went first into the pipe and got stuck against the wood debris that was wedged in it. Avery and Ryan followed and then all were trapped in the pipe. Ryan knew there was a problem as the water pushed him up against Avery. Ryan tried to swim backwards to the opening, but the current was too strong. So instead, Ryan tried kicking at Avery to push him forward. It was no good and the water level rose above Ryan's head. He took a breath, but it was all water and he could feel it enter his lungs.
At this point Ryan entertained the fatalistic notion that this was going to be his end. With his lungs filled with water and no oxygen, he started to drift off. In his mind, he saw what appeared to be a vision of his whole family around the dinner table.
Fortunately, Vinnie managed to bust through the wood. He was then able to pull Avery through. The two of them could see Ryan floating in the water and they grabbed him and pulled him out. They bent him over to let the water drain out of him and they saw him puke up black water. When he came to, Ryan was literally shaken by the ordeal and it took awhile for him to regain his composure.
Ryan looks back at the near tragedy as "the dumbest thing I've ever done." He still is troubled somewhat by being in water.
Listening to the story, Baya and Chet were suddenly and somberly struck by the idea that with a slightly different twist of fate, they might never have had Ryan in their lives. JD just went back to his usual babble.
Obviously, it wasn't Ryan's time. He had too many lives yet to touch and so many people yet to inspire with his character and fascinating life story.
