A Sticky Adventure

The title for this week’s blog is courtesy of our local newspaper at the time this story took place. Another newspaper titled Travis’s adventure, “Rescued from the Mud”. And Denver’s Channel 2 news also came out and did a story. (Never a dull moment in our lives!)

When Travis was nine years old he had to be rescued from the mud by our local firefighters.

The story began at my cookie store. Travis would come to my work after school. He was sitting in the backroom with his homework in front of him. I was trying to get him focused on the homework when the doorbell rang, signaling that I had a customer.

While I was helping the customer I heard the back door slam. I knew what that sound meant. My son had escaped to play outside.

My business was located in an industrial area of town alongside a lake. Just the day before I found Travis playing in the mud at the lake. Because of a drought, a great deal of water in the lake had evaporated. There was still water in the center, but it was completely surrounded by a foul smelling sticky mud.

Travis was attracted to the lake, well because he was one hundred percent boy. And as the water receded treasures were unburied. Treasures such as old fishing lures. And a firefighter’s helmet.

With a bit of research we found that the helmet belonged to a local firefighter who had lost it several years before when it flew off his head as the firetruck raced by the lake to answer a call. He had searched for his helmet later to no avail. We arranged for Travis to meet with the firefighter to return his helmet, and in exchange the firefighter gave Travis a firefighter helmet bank. Travis still treasures that bank.

But looking back now, I also believe that Travis was attracted to the lake because water has a soothing effect on him. And the heaviness of mud on his body may have felt good to him as well.

So when I found him the day before he was covered in the sticky mud. I warned Travis not to play in the mud again. Not only was it slimy and hard to clean off him, but it also probably had bacteria in it that could make him sick. And I told him it was dangerous for him to play in the lake area without supervision.

After taking care of the customer I went out the back door to look for Travis. The owner of a neighboring business told me that Travis was playing with the neighbor’s dog by the lake. Just as the neighbor went back inside his business I saw his dog run up covered in mud.

And alone.

I called for Travis, no response. I ran to the lake’s muddy edge and discovered Travis’s shoes at the shoreline. I also saw his homework drifting in the shallow murky water. But I did not see Travis.

I panicked. I ran back to the store and called the police. And Tracy. Tracy was just getting back to town from work and drove straight to the other side of the lake. Tracy was able to see Travis from that side about sixty yards from shore.

Tracy took off his boots and went in after him, but could hardly move. With each step the mud sucked up his foot and leg. (And his socks! Never to be seen again.) But he did get close enough to see that Travis was not in immediate danger.

Tracy said that he must have had “the look” on his face because Travis called out, “I love you dad”!

As Tracy continued to try to get to him, Travis shouted that it was easier to lay down and crawl on your tummy.

By this time the fire department arrived. One of the firefighters put on a wetsuit and tried to make his way to Travis with a board with rope attached to it. (Tracy called the suit the lobster suit.)

After a great deal of effort the firefighter was exhausted and not making much headway. He instructed Travis to crawl to him. By this time Travis had the crawl down and made his way to the board. It may have been easier for him because he was lighter and did not sink as deep.

The firefighter pulled Travis in. Travis did not have any clothes on. He said that the mud soaked clothes were heavy. He thought if he took them off it would be easier to get out of the mud.

He was covered in mud. And very cold. And exhausted.

The ambulance took Travis to the hospital to have him checked out. Where we gave him a shower in one of their empty rooms and they gave him a turkey sandwich because he was hungry. (To this day we call it the $1,200 turkey sandwich.)

Over the years our boy had so many visits to the hospital for stitches and broken bones that they stopped asking us for our insurance card. (They had it in the system.) We joked that they probably had a mug there with his name on it. (Like Tim the tool man.)

I was initially reluctant when Channel 2 news contacted us to come out and do a story. They convinced me that it was and important story to tell. Before something like this happened to another child, but maybe with a different outcome. They wanted to let the public know that even though water levels were down because of the drought, playing in lakes and rivers could be dangerous.

Travis told the reporter that he followed the dog into the lake. And then he saw fish and crawdads. And he followed the fish in deeper as he tried to catch it with his bare hands.

When they aired the story they had Travis on camera telling the viewers, “Just say no to lakes, rivers and ponds”.

At the end of the story the two news anchors giggled as they told their viewers that Travis was grounded and unable to attend the school roller skating party. Because he had to do his homework.

I wish I could say that Travis learned an important lesson from this experience. But the truth is that I caught him going down to the lake the very next day. And when I called, (more likely yelled), for him to come back he kept walking, like he was in a trance. I had to get between him and the water to get him to focus on me and what I was saying.

I was extremely frustrated at the time.

Because I didn’t know then what I know now.

As time went on we learned that Travis has issues with his executive functioning skills. He doesn’t understand the concept of cause and effect. Or consequences. This is why rewards charts just did not work with him.

And this explains the stitches and broken bones. He acts without thinking. Without considering or understanding possible outcomes.

Somewhere along the way someone mentioned to me that individuals on the autism spectrum might make the same mistake a thousand times before they learned from it.

So now if you hear me say, “Are we to a thousand yet?”, you know what I mean.

And unfortunately, I say that often. Still.

“The central struggle of parenthood is to let our hopes for our children outweigh our fears.” — Ellen Goodman