|
October 16
With great sadness in my heart, and tears still flowing from my eyes, I’m completing this last report after the tragedy that by now, we all know about. A dear friend has departed after chasing a dream, a monumental endeavor to achieve the ultimate depth a human being can resist. Audrey Mestre Ferreras was dear to us because of her simplicity of character, humble approach to her beloved sport and lack of pretensions.
As a friend and coworker, it is very hard for me having to deal with this tragedy; I can’t even imagine the overwhelming emotion for her parents Jean Pierre and Anne Marie, they came from overseas to see her daughter one last time. Pipin, her beloved husband, is still trying to recover from the impact. He has lost, not just a wife, but also a partner, a lover, a friend and a guide. She was his eyes, without her, he will have to learn to deal with many aspects for which, he’s not prepared. It is now, that friendship will be tested. We must all, be there and try to do our best for them. Audrey’s closest friends and coworkers are also devastated and healing will take some time. Among them, Carolina, Audrey’s trusted friend and confidant. We can only hope that we run our lives in a way that will make her smile with satisfaction from where she is now.
It is not a secret, that different organizations, including ours, have been arguing about what for me, now, is petty and meaningless. The human spirit is what should prevail, the kindness and understanding in a moment like this is what defines our character and personality. Since Saturday, I have seen only the best of humankind, from the guts of a young woman, riding a complex machine to the bottom of the sea; the amazing effort to bring her back from the impossible from people motivated by kindheartedness; and up to tears shed from people that barely knew her. At least for now, I’m at peace with humanity.
So, I implore, all of those athletes attempting to break records in the near future, to consider every single factor that may jeopardize their lives. The reasons for Audrey’s accident is still unknown, we will do whatever it takes to determine the cause or causes and we hope to be able to figure it out, but until then, extreme precautions should be taken. She was in excellent shape, the best of her career; she had done the same depth, off only by a meter, just days before. There was no indication or warning of what ended up happening. However, there is only one prerequisite to leave this world, and that is to be alive. Life is too precious and we never expect the worse, but when reality strikes you, it doesn’t matter how hard you want to go back in time to change the events, it will be too late.
Destiny is something that we can only discover as it comes, minute after minute, and I would have never expected, having to finish this series of reports with this tragedy. There is only one making decisions and that one is God, anyone else who thinks otherwise is just fooling himself. Unfortunately, our own arrogance as human beings blinds us from that fact. In many occasions, I have argued the egotism that exist in the freediving community and this is not the time for evaluations on that matter, but what I feel right now it’s somehow ironic: that the one person with the humbleness that doesn’t match the average, is the one taken from us. Anyone else, I would have thought, “Well, he or she, was too petulant!” but Audrey? It doesn’t make any sense.
Maybe God, as our father in the heavens, is punishing us; our parents did it in many occasions while we were growing. They only wanted to correct our attitude, they wanted for us to be the best we could. We didn’t enjoyed, we even though they were wrong or unfair, of course, they were not. Nonetheless, we had to admit it and if this is a lesson from God, we must accept it with humility. After many years of experience as a Medic First Aid and CPR instructor trainer, part of me knew right away that she was gone, but I, along with a handful of great people, Matt, Amaury, Eddy and others, kept fighting for almost two hours. Maybe I was too; to arrogant thinking, that destiny or God’s decision could be changed but once again, I was wrong. Obviously, he had other plans, maybe, he just wants us to be united and fight together, to stop people from dying while practicing our sport, perhaps, this is just a reminder that we are temporary riders in this carrousel called life. Or maybe, he was just short on angels!
Audrey, we’ll miss you, God bless your soul!
Carlos Serra, just a friend.
|
| How to Validate Records with