Reader\'s Digest Australia & New Zealand - June 2018

June• 2018 | 123

READER’S DIGEST

family: Caroline, whom he has been

marriedtofor16years.Jack,7,who

loves paper aeroplanes and Poppy,

hisprincess,whois3.

henZac,whohasreachedthetop

of Double Trouble, sees Jason stuck

and thrashing midway up Bastard’s

Crawl.

“Andrew! Jason’s in trouble!” he

shouts,hisvoicesomehowcarrying

over the thunder of the water.

henJasonseesAndrewatthebot-

tom of the crawl, calm and steady,

gesturing with his gloved hands.

“Solid hands, Jase. Keep your

handstotheside.Headup,”Andrew

callsout.“You’renotstuck.Keepon

coming, dude. Keep on breathing.

Handsout.Stayup.”

Jason’s gloved hands emerge from

thewater,lailing,thenhiswetface

framed by his helmet. He is gasping

for air.

“Towards me,” Andrew continues.

“Goodhands.Comeon.Handsout.

Keep breathing. Come towards me.

Come this way, feet towards me, head

up.Headup....Comeon,Jase,keep

breathing.” Finally Jason makes it to

whereAndrewwaitsforhim.

“It’s scary but you made it. Let’s

chill out for a second, okay?” But not

much later, Andrew encourages Ja-

sontostartgoingagain.

“Now,Ineedyoutostartmoving.”

“In a second. My leg’s caught.” Ja-

son doesn’t recognise his own voice

becauseitcomesoutsoslurredand

slow. Like I’ve had a stroke.He tries to

toslip.Atthetop,Jasongetsonhis
stomachtopullhimselfupthein-
clineofBastard’sCrawl.
One,two,three–thewater
smashes into his face as he pow-
ers through it.God, it’s cold!Finally
emerging through the opening into
the next tight passage, he pauses,
puzzled,becauseitsplitsintotwo.
Idon’trememberthis.Whichway
do I go?
Hecan’tseethetwocaversahead
of him and he is nervous about wait-
ingatthetopbecausethereisreally
only room in this spot for one person
atatime.
I’ll just go back down and ask,he
decides.
He starts to make his way down
the crawl in a careful crabwalk. He’s
glad he’s wearing thick, blue plastic
gloves,whichprotecthimfromthe
slick sharpness of the rocks. Sud-
denlytheforceofthewaterpushes
himtotheground,submerginghim,
andhefeelsthepressureofmorewa-
ter building up behind him.
If he doesn’t get out fast, the merci-
less,freezingsurgeofwaterwillpop
himoutlikeachampagnecork,over
DoubleTroubleandontotherocks
below.
Don’t panic,he tells himself. hen:
But I can’t move! My boot’s stuck!
Lyingonhisbackwiththewater
rushing over him, he tries to call for
help,butinsteadhegaspsfrantically
forair.Ithasbeenaboutfivemin-
utes, but feels longer. He thinks of his