The Insight I Almost Died For | Riley Kehoe | TEDxGrandCanyonUniversity

one two three have you ever been to a tropical island laid on a beautiful beach with not a care in the world when I was 10 years old my family traveled to a tropical island of the coast of Thailand we spent our Christmas holiday in Paradise the day after Christmas my sisters and I were making sand castles on the beach when my dad told us it's time to go back to the room as I followed my dad I noticed all the animals went quiet Birds stopped chirping monkeys quickly climbed up the forest then I heard a loud scream and I looked at the beach and saw people frantically running in every direction it was pure chaos then I noticed all the water in the bay had left there were now boats on the sand people with diving gear on reefs what is happening I looked out onto the Horizon and saw a thin white line within seconds I saw it was the biggest tsunami I've ever seen a 50-foot tsunami coming at our Island at a rapid speed where's Mom I asked my dad my mom had been on the phone in the hotel lobby finalizing our flights back to New Zealand my homeland at the time we scanned the crowds looking for her then I heard someone yelling run run warning people to get to High Ground I knew that voice my mom sprinted towards us pleading for us to run when I looked out at the bay the tsunami was now a few hundred feet from us it's Force shaking the entire Island I looked over at the pool and watched as a woman lay on a lounge chair Frozen in fear besides her a baby screamed I never saw that Mom or baby again my family then sprinted towards a pathway up the mountain on the island my Dad held one sister and my mom held the other sister as the eldest I ran besides my parents the fastest my little legs could carry me I looked up and saw a peculiar sight somehow in the middle of the chaos my sister had managed to find a bucket fill it up with water and had rescued fish my dad asked her to let go of the bucket but she clung to the bucket like her life depended on it gave him a side eye and shouted nope the fishes as she would call them would survive as we sprinted up the hill I felt terrified I was so tired my legs were sore didn't seem possible for me to keep up with my parents I looked back for a split second and there it was the tsunami was so close I knew I was seconds away from death I'm not gonna make it I'm gonna die run my dad shouted at me with everything I had left in me I focus on the voice of my boss a father I told my body to run faster and now I'm several strides ahead of him we made it to the top of the mountain there I dropped to my knees to pleaded and completely overwhelmed at that very moment thousands of people were losing their lives I shouldn't be here today speaking to you right now three tsunami waves struck that day over 230 000 people died the Boxing Day tsunami devastated the coastline of 14 countries making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in record history you want to know what I remember the most distinctly in the midst of death and destruction it's the survivors who put their basic needs aside to help others two of those Heroes were my parents a day later a rescue boat came to pick up the survivors and my mom tenderly looked at us and said girls we're gonna stay here and do whatever we can to help at the time I could not understand why we would do this I desperately wanted to fly back to New Zealand crawl into my bed and act as if none of this nightmare had happened I wanted to leave this place of Terror yet my parents chose to remain on the island where boats hung on trees and buildings were just Rubble for the following week we lived off a small portion of spicy rice and water I witness a community of once strangers now comrades moved dead bodies sweep away debris and begin slowly rebuilding it took me years to comprehend how courageous of a decision that was my parents conviction to stay and help was strong enough to not let fear starvation or another tsunami stop them they were willing to care for a cause bigger than themselves at a cost they chose as parents with three little kids to remain in uncertainty rather than safety to care about a land that was not even their own when we got back to New Zealand life continued the only difference was I was now terrified of the ocean I saw it as a killing machine and I didn't want to go anywhere near it six months after the tsunami my parents enrolled my sisters and me in Beach lifeguard training Beach lifeguard training imagine that as in learning how to rescue people from the ocean on the first day of training I was so scared being a lifeguard is a scary job for anyone and for this little curly-haired girl it was almost unimaginable I barely slept in weeks every night I had the same nightmare of the tsunami swallowing me then came a defining moment of my life my dad he saw my distress walked over to me got down on his knees looked me in the eye and said Riley either courage or fear exists in your life and all you need is a little more courage a little more courage that summer I fought a battle between fear and courage and if I'm honest with you most the time fear one but I didn't stop fighting I knew that showing up a training put myself at Square One in a position to rebuild my relationship with the ocean as I did the very thing I feared a little more courage started to grow and something shifted in me I started to think of others not just myself the job of a lifeguard is to keep others safe on the other side of you facing your fears is the gift of being able to help someone this is the ultimate type of Courage the courage to care this courage is not an absence of fear but the assessment that someone's need is greater we all know the regretful feeling of a missed opportunity for the courage to care for me it was when I drove by a man experiencing homelessness with a bag full of groceries I could have said hello and shown him kindness and said I overthought it and let the what ifs win I still remember that man's face can you think of a moment like this in your life maybe you saw a car crash and knew you should have stopped or watched someone be rude in a store and wanted to say something what would the underlying fears what if you had just a little more courage my friend I know you want to do something important with your life you want your time on Earth to be felt you wanted to Echo your life is too short to let fear Write Your Story give Courage the pen I ask you this what do you want to do with your precious life I hope you choose to care for the people around you who are in need your courage only needs to touch one life for the ripple effect of courage to begin if you change one life you can change the world can you find Just One Life to care about today one day I sat on my favorite New Zealand Beach at this point I've been a certified Beach lifeguard for years it was a stormy day but there was nowhere else I'd rather be then suddenly I heard a screw for help I spotted a man 600 from feet from the shore struggling to stay above water my instincts kicked in and I ran to the ocean just before I dove into the ocean I stopped despite the adrenaline I felt terrified my whole body was shaking but I counted to three one two three and dove into the ocean three seconds of Courage that's my motto it takes three seconds of Courage for you to face your fears I dove into the ocean I could feel the pull of the Riptide by the time I reached the man his body was sinking to the bottom of the ocean I took a breath and Dove down and pulled him to the surface I pulled this 250 pound man on my back I'd done this in training before and I I I shouted at him no response I put my hand on his neck but I couldn't feel a pulse he had drowned one two three more seconds to change someone's life I grabbed this man and pulled him onto my back I'd done this in training before but this is the first time I needed to get it right I pumped his chest and kicked my legs to keep us above water a minute in no response I kept going another minute then a miracle happened the man threw up the water in his lungs he was alive he was semi-unconscious but I could feel his heart beating then another miracle happened little did I know a retired doctor happened to be walking on the stormy Beach he had spotted us from a distance and immediately feared the worse that there would be two deaths today not sure what else to do he called for an ambulance when we reach the shore exhausted the doctor sprinted towards us and took over recovery I share the story with you because if I someone who survived a tsunami can face her greatest fears and help and not there so can you but it took years of showing up to wrestle with my fears day after day if you do this deep Soul work and trust me I know it's hard you can turn the very place you feared into a place of Victory and impact do you want to know something I'm pretty proud of today my favorite thing to do in the entire world is surf yes sir serve many tsunami looking ways today I get to teach others how to surf what if you beat fear and taught others how to do the same in a world that says you to you mind your own business and stay in your own lane what if there was an alternative way to live to choose to care this ultimate type of Courage will cost you something it might cost you a bag of groceries your precious time or even your pride but I can promise you this living with the courage to care is the most fulfilling way to live your life every day there are opportunities to help people that are living through their own tsunamis the next time you are given an opportunity I hope you count to three and choose the courage to care even today before I spoke to you on the stage I felt fear so much fear but a count of three one two three count to three with me together one two three again one two three it only takes three seconds of courage to change someone's life one two three [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 9,797

Keywords: English, Fear, Life, Natural disaster, Overcome, Pain, Personal growth, TEDxTalks, Tragedy, [TEDxEID:53952]

Id: IybZLBF7d3w

Length: 13min 46sec (826 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 10 2023