Dans Papers - June 1, 2007 - Antoinette Jongen: How She Nearly Died, But Didn't

Antoinette Jongen, an 80-year-old Springs resident, was enjoying her daily walk when she arrived at the bulkhead at the Three Mile Harbor inlet. The sun was shining, the air was fresh and pure and she was feeling connected to nature and to her own life. This is what life is all about for Antoinette, who allowed memories of her life as a shipping manager in Holland when she was a young woman to run through her mind as she walked. She laughed to herself when she remembered the way the men looked at her oddly back then for being a working woman at that time.

She inhaled a deep breath of summer and looked out at the sea.

"What a world," she said. She watched a sailboat under full wind a few miles out, looking clear as day to her weathered eyes.

She took another step towards the bulkhead and saw a ledge that she wanted to climb up onto. Antoinette was the type of woman who liked to take the road less traveled. She took a step.

But suddenly, she lost her balance. Gravity begin to pull her towards the edge, where a strong current of running water sped below. It was going to happen and, as she does with everything she does, she let go and just splashed mightily into the cold water.

She did not panic. She was dressed warmly, so that would be fine, but then she began to notice the saltwater seep through her clothes and settle on her skin. She reached out for a piling. The current began to take her out to the sound. And with that, she turned and watched as her fate of being swept out to the open sea became her new reality. Would she die? Would she HAVE to die?

Using a burst of strength, she reached out again at the piling and this time, her strong fingers found a grip. She hung on, with the current pushing against her and maneuvered her legs around the piling as well. Her instincts left her and her logic began to come into focus. She looked at her hand -- it was bleeding from hanging on. She looked across the way at the beach on the other side, but knew for sure that the current would sweep her out before she could make it across. She looked for areas where she could climb, but nothing made sense. And then the cold began to set in.

Suddenly, she saw a motorboat in the distance, just about to pass Maidstone Beach. She was only in the water for five minutes now and her rescue was here. Antoinette called out as it came close but it drove right by, nobody inside noticing her. As a result, she was suddenly demoralized. She'd hang on for as long as she could. She was not going to let herself die here so easily.

For thirty minutes, Antoinette sat in the water, clinging onto the piling to save her own life as she watched two other motorboats drive by. "Please help! I'm over here! Help! Help!" She screamed, but they didn't hear her.

She thought of her family and she began to think about how drowning was a nice way to die. She thought about how lucky she was to be able to die in as beautiful place as Three Mile Harbor inlet, a place she truly loves. Her arms were growing tired and her legs were losing their grip as she hugged the piling.

And then, a fourth boat came by. It was a much smaller boat and, this time, it was coming closer to her.

Captain Ryan Persan had been heading out to the open sea on a test run. The strapping 27-year-old mechanic was checking to see if the fixes he had just made on the small vessel he was navigating had put it in good working order. His polarized sunglasses gave him a clear view of the water.

And now, he noticed something odd at the piling. A small head appeared for a second and then disappeared behind a wave. "What was that?" he thought. He looked again and there she was, a woman clinging on for dear life. He could see her mouthing out words, she was definitely saying, "help."

Jumping quickly to action, he sped over on his boat, expertly controlling it so that he did not hit the woman or the pilings. He saw Antoinette's eyes and told her to reach out her arm. He leaned over the side of the boat and pulled her out of the water. Her face was blue with cold. "You're going to be all right," Ryan said as a mop of soaked clothing squished onto the deck of his boat.

Antoinette looked up at the sky. Ryan was right. She was going to be all right.

Later, Antoinette was at Southampton Hospital being treated for minor cuts and for having water in her lungs. She was released in stable condition. There was just a little tickle in her chest from the water, but she felt fine and she smiled. She stepped outside and breathed in the Southampton air. She had one heck of a story to tell and now says that she likes being one of the few people to ever have breathed in the sea and lived to tell about it.