24
votes
When the adrenaline wears off
Wow. So my (not so) little cousin has been missing for a few days. He is an EMT that works in the greater Denver area, and often at Red Rocks, where a massive hail storm greatly injured many people. Between me, my sister, his sister, my mom, and my best friend, we couldn't get in touch with him.
Thankfully, he is okay and was on a rafting trip so he turned his phone off. I've literally wiped this kid's ass (we're 9 years apart). Knowing he is safe and headed home is the greatest relief. But that adrenaline rush over the past 48 hours to suddenly stop is quite the crash. I feel like I can sleep for a full day now.
What a wild ride that must've been for you.
Did he just not let anyone know?
I can't imagine how scary that must have been to have someone you care for drop off the face of the earth.
He didn't. He absolutely loves the wilderness, so it isn't the biggest surprise, but given the circumstances of what happened at Red Rocks, it would have been REAL nice to know where he was. I was about to post asking in anybody knew where those that were injured were taken.
Did anyone talk to him about it? It's wildly irresponsible for anyone going into the wilderness to not only give no notice he's leaving, but to have zero means of communication while out there. Every wilderness survival guide these days has tons of warnings about it.
His sister thought he was mentoring kids at a camp. His dad is a broken man, and his mom is a deadbeat addict that can't spend more than a week out of jail..
Nope. He is very capable, but I'm going to drill it into his that he needs to let us know.
Wow yeah I'd make sure everyone hammers it into him that you inform people about your trips 100% of the time. The number one killer of the outdoors is lack of information, be it the one going or those that lnow where they are and aren't.
I'll beat it into him if I have to. Like, dude, we need to know you're okay. And should it come down to it, we need to know where to send help.
Maybe rethink that approach. I am the son of a highly dysfunctional, filled with some nasty episodes, and it sounds like so is your cousin.
Hitting the woods without attachment (phone off) is a near ecstatic experience for me. It’s a freedom and a sense of safety, to know i can escape everything there.
What changed my behaviour around this was being shown, not told, that some people really valued my existence, and wanted to know about my excursions for my sake.
Adrenaline is a funny thing. About a year ago, some neighbors kids were playing with a lighter on a warm February, dry, windy day and lit their lawn on fire. We have Bermuda grass which is dormant in the winter, so it caught fire quickly. Spread to about 5 properties including ours. Lit our fence, yard, trees and some brush on fire. I was out there trying to fight this thing with a garden hose, trying to keep it away from the house. I was seriously about 10 seconds from ditching it and grabbing the dogs and abandoning the house but the fire dept arrived and was able to get things under control.
I had no idea what an adrenaline crash could do until then. It tooks me days to feel normal again, and I'm pretty active so the actual activity didn't really affect me.
In any case, glad to hear your cousin is okay!
Holy... Wow... That sounds insane! glad you and the pups are safe. That could.ve gone from bad to worse in a moment!
I saw this on IG. I would've been very concerned, too. Glad you found him and have been in touch.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct1pzS1AuFD/?igshid=MjAxZDBhZDhlNA==
Holy shit. He said he had an email from work about how crazy it was. That is worse than I expected.