“That could never happen to me!” Probably everybody, of any age, has uttered this saying at one time or another. But a heartbreaking news story released by Travel Weekly is a harrowing reminder that this belief could not be more misguided.
Earlier this week, a group of friends on a snorkeling trip in Cancun were told to jump into the water when the catamaran they were on began to sink. After almost drowning, an 18-year-old girl on the trip suffered heart and lung failure and was found to be brain dead when she arrived at the hospital. No one else has been reported to be injured.
There are many rumors surrounding the story. Amongst them, accusations that the catamaran was overloaded and that the crew abandoned the passengers on the vessel. While these and other rumors may or may not be true, this story brings an important, but often overlooked reality to light: it CAN happen to you.
This girl, just like any other teenager who has just graduated highschool and wants to celebrate the accomplishment, was on a trip with her friends organized by GradCity, a company that helps students plan vacations like hers. It probably never occurred to her that a tragedy like this could ever happen, much less, to her.
In the last few weeks, kids all over the U.S. are either enjoying or planning exotic trips to popular destinations like, Mexico, to celebrate high school or college graduations.
What people should take from this tragic, but eye-opening, story is not fear, but awareness. If you are planning to do unusual or unfamiliar activities on your vacation, take the time to review some safety skills and be aware of what to do in case an emergency arises. It might seem lame, especially when occurrences like this are so rare, but a little knowledge doesn’t make you a worry wart, it just makes you prepared.
According to Grad City, there is no definite information on why the catamaran might have malfunctioned and no fingers have officially been pointed. It is hard to speculate as to whether this was a freak incident or something that easily could have been prevented.
We may never know what really caused this horrible accident but we can learn something about the dangers of travel. While it is definitely easier to ignore that anything bad could ever happen to you, since chances are it never will, it doesn’t hurt to be informed and aware when you travel. You could save someone else’s life, or your own.
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