There are some “what if's” that, as a parent, you cringe to even say aloud, let alone ponder. One of the most prevalent is the old “what if both your children were about to die and you could only save one?” The rest of us have the luxury of pushing that horrid thought out of mind. This father had to make the choice for real.
Ian Clayton was on a canoing trip with his eight-year-old twins when their boat capsized in fast current. Clayton's son has quickly pulled downstream, while is daughter was somewhere under the water. Clayton was faced with two options, stay and look for his girl or stop his son from being carried away. Despite his son's protests of “save my sister first,” Clayton went for the boy and successful pulled him to land. Unfortunately it was too late for Clayton's daughter.
Often in parenting it is not the choices we make, but living with the choices we didn't. There is no more extreme example of that fact than this. At least Clayton had the fortitude to take decisive action in the moment, though it will haunt him forever. I think some of us might hesitate, unable to make a horrible decision, and have to live with even more disastrous consequences.
