ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Since 2010, more than 600 people have drowned in the Great Lakes.
Jamie Racklyeft was almost one of them. It was the summer of 2012, and Racklyeft had gone Up North to "get away" he said. He ended up in Leland and headed for Van's Beach.
It was windy, but he wasn't concerned about the conditions.
"There's other people out there. It is a beautiful, sunny day. Just going to splash in the waves a little bit, and it felt great," Racklyeft recalled. "I realized after a while the water is kind of up to my waist, and it's up to my chest, and I realize I better start heading back in."
But he wasn't able to. He kept getting pushed back out from the shore.
Racklyeft suddenly realized that he was caught in a rip current. He remembered hearing about them on the television show "Baywatch."
"I knew not to try to fight it. I knew to try to swim to the side. I even instinctively flipped over onto my back," said Racklyeft. "But the waves were just huge. They were 4 and 5 feet tall, every five and six seconds, and I just couldn't figure out where I was."
Seconds quickly turned to minutes.
"I tried to wave and I just sink, and I just got into this rhythm of getting knocked down by a wave, pounded down to the bottom, come back up, take a quick breath, try to yell. Bam, get knocked down again, and after a while, I got really, really tired. And then I came to this realization that I'm not going to get out of this. This is how I'm going to die on this beautiful day, in this beautiful place I've been coming to my whole life," said Racklyeft. "And I thought, 'I'm just going to have to go down once more and take a breath underwater and hope that it is quick and painless.'"
He briefly wondered if anyone would come to his funeral and if he would soon see his grandparents and dad.
"Then everything went dark and everything got quiet, and I felt like I was being carried," said Racklyeft. "I heard these muffled voices and they were asking me if I'm OK. And I'm asking them, 'Am I dead?' And they're like, 'No, you are okay. You're on the beach.'"
Two strangers heard Racklyeft yelling for help. They took a kayak from a nearby cottage and had come to his rescue.
"Got to me at the last second as I was going down for the last time," said Racklyeft.
A few days later, Racklyeft was devastated to learn, about an hour after he was saved, a 16 year-old boy was caught in the same rip current and drowned.
"That really hit me hard," said Racklyeft. "And I thought, you know, 'Why me? Why was I saved when this poor boy who had his whole life ahead of him (wasn't)?'"
Racklyeft works in communications at the University of Michigan. He soon decided to channel his "survivor's guilt" into creating the Great Lakes Water Safety Consortium.
"Our mission is to end drowning in the Great Lakes," said Racklyeft.
He discovered most people, like him, have no clue that rip currents are a risk in the Great Lakes.
"I had no idea. I thought they were only on the ocean," said Racklyeft. "I've learned since, even an Olympic swimmer like Michael Phelps can't fight the force of a rip current. They are very strong."
Volunteers and experts across the Great Lakes are now teaming up to educate people about the danger of rip currents. The group includes first responders, park rangers, meteorologists, survivors and those who have lost loved ones to drowning.
In addition to education, the organization provides signage and safety equipment at beaches and is working to bring lifeguards to more beaches.
Racklyeft has partnered with the Michigan Sea Grant. Based at U of M, it's part of a national network of programs that support research, education and outreach in coastal communities.
So, how can you reduce the risk of rip currents? Step one is to avoid them whenever possible. Don't swim near piers where rip currents are more likely or when waves are high.
"Check with the National Weather Service or the Weather Channel. Is there any warnings on the beach? They have websites with constantly updated red, green, yellow warnings for all the shorelines on the Great Lakes so you can see if the conditions are dangerous," said Racklyeft. "Look for red flag warnings if you are there. Look for lifeguards and get advice from them on the conditions. So know before you go, and when in doubt, don't go out."
If you do get caught in a rip current -- remember this -- flip, float and follow.
"Flip over onto your back to conserve energy," advised Racklyeft. "As long as you're floating, you're buoyant, you are alive, you're breathing, you are controlling your panic. And then follow the path of least resistance back to shore. We want everyone to know 'flip, float, and follow' just like they know 'stop, drop and roll.'"
To help save someone else, toss them a life ring or anything that floats.
Finally, wear a life jacket.
"Wear a life jacket. Don't just bring it, wear it," said Racklyeft. "If you're crashing in your car, you don't suddenly decide to put your seat belt on or if you're falling off your bike, you don't suddenly put your helmet on."
Two weeks ago, Racklyeft got married on that same beach, starting a new life in the place where he came so close to losing his.
"Second chance at life for me, second chance at love for both of us," said Racklyeft.
Instead of a guest book, well-wishers signed a life preserver --Â the ultimate symbol of his second chance.
"I'm so lucky. I know I'm the lucky one and that's why I'm trying to pay this forward. Trying to give back. Trying to save other people from having it happen to them," said Racklyeft.
To learn more about rip currents and the Great Lakes Water Safety Consortium, click here.