On Saturday, June 25th, we attended cousin Ava's baptism in the morning. We thought since we were already an hour north of Salt Lake that it would make sense to go to the Hill Air Force Base Air Show. The thing is, we were not prepared. We lacked drinking water and proper shade, such as hats or an umbrella. We did stop at 7-11 and picked up some Slurpees, but they did not last long on our 1.5 mile trek into the base.
We arrived around 2 or 3 pm and really enjoyed watching the airplanes do their tricks. We were thirsty though and we didn't plan ahead like we should have. I didn't even know that they had water stations around. The heat was sweltering.
Towards the beginning of the last performance, the most anticipated performance of all (Blue Angels), Lincoln, who was standing next to me, suddenly tipped over like a stiff board. His knees didn't buckle; he was straight and rigid and collapsed sideways, making a goose egg on his forehead where he landed. I leaned over and picked him up and his eyes were wide open and glassed over. He was staring at nothing!! This was really scary to see! He wasn't responding to me yelling at him, shaking him, or hugging him tight, nothing. Just the glassy glazed over empty stare. But even worse, next his eyes started moving back and forth similar to a seizure.
By now I was panicked and I frantically told Scott, "He needs help!! We need help!" The crowd around us now noticed. A lady brought over a water bottle and the gentleman in front of us took off his ice cold Camelback canteen and we poured water all over Lincoln.
Probably only 1 minute went by, but it felt like ages. It's weird how time slows down where you're in crisis mode. In anger of ice cold water being poured on his face and shirt, Lincoln snapped back to reality. Oh, wow, thank goodness! We needed a miracle and were given one when he came back to us.
Scott clutched him tightly and we walked toward the Red Cross tent. A slew of military doctors laid Lincoln down and checked him out for probably an hour and a half. They paged the head pediatrician of the base and he concluded that Lincoln had collapsed because of heat stroke caused by dehydration and heat.
When we were given the okay to be released, the show already ended and we slowly made the 1.5 trek back to our van. I was so relieved that Lincoln was okay and it didn't turn out worse.
Moral of the story: Be prepared! If we would have planned accordingly: for example, brought water and shade and thought about it more, we would have all been protected. This can be compared to life: If we use the proper tools and stand with armor against evil, we will be safe and protected. We can all learn from past mistakes and do better. I know we were watched over from above.
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