Hero.

I would normally try to say something snarky, but no.

This man was awesome. We need more people in the world like him.

If he drowned, mouth to mouth wouldn't do much good. Have to give him chest compressions to force the water out of his lungs. Then you can go for mouth to mouth if needed.

WhyteRaven74: If he drowned, mouth to mouth wouldn't do much good. Have to give him chest compressions to force the water out of his lungs. Then you can go for mouth to mouth if needed.

Since his wife was a doctor as well, I'm sure she knew what to do. The details were probably not correctly reported.

/RIP Doc

The two boys made it back to the shore near Cherry Beach in Chikaming, but Liu, 50, did not survive the 6-foot swells and treacherous currents.

So, if I'm reading this correctly, the smallish kids got back to shore on their own. It's the 50 year old doctor that wasn't able to handle things.

Doctors, right? Always think the first thing they need to do is rush into action. Motion to action is important for a lot of people, like truckers and pilots and other people where things can go to shiat if they freeze up, but if you aren't a beach lifeguard then you probably aren't a good enough swimmer to tackle a riptide.

Goodnight, good Doctor.

wildcardjack: The two boys made it back to the shore near Cherry Beach in Chikaming, but Liu, 50, did not survive the 6-foot swells and treacherous currents.

So, if I'm reading this correctly, the smallish kids got back to shore on their own. It's the 50 year old doctor that wasn't able to handle things.

Doctors, right? Always think the first thing they need to do is rush into action. Motion to action is important for a lot of people, like truckers and pilots and other people where things can go to shiat if they freeze up, but if you aren't a beach lifeguard then you probably aren't a good enough swimmer to tackle a riptide.

That is how I read it. Sounds like doc overestimated his abilities.


His kids will be screwed up for life, knowing he chose other kids over them.

He probably knew there was a good chance he wasn't coming back but he went in anyway - who amongst us could've done the same.

a life well played good Dr.

WhyteRaven74: If he drowned, mouth to mouth wouldn't do much good. Have to give him chest compressions to force the water out of his lungs. Then you can go for mouth to mouth if needed.

Most people who drown do not have their lungs fill with fluid. What actually happens is their layrnx snaps shut, and they dry-drown from the resultant hypercarbia and hypoxia. Their lungs only fill with fluid minutes or hours after clinical death actually occurs when the larynx relaxes, and the body begins to decompose. Clearing the airway with a jaw thrust or head-tilt, chin lift, and using oropharyngeal suctioning is adequate enough to remove fluids.

See. This is the issue with there being no afterlife. There'd better be a reward for this kind of shiat. That better not have been for.. nothing.

Beerguy: Proper use of the Hero tag indeed.

The sad thing to note is that the people who are heroes are usually the ones that die.

Know your limits, and remember you can't help anyone else if you get into a situation where you're the one who has to be rescued or recovered. Reach, throw, or row, but don't go unless you're capable of doing so.

Rip tides are nasty business. I rescued a swimmer about 20 years ago in Lake Erie. It was a public beach without a lifeguard and some young kid got pulled into the rip tide. I was in the water about 20 feet away and swam to him, put him into a cross chest, kept us both afloat and let the time take us out while trying to calm him down. We ended up being about 50 yards out before I was able to start swimming parallel to the shore and then bring him in. This kid was only about 8 or 9 years old but he left some black and blue marks on my arms from his death grip, and those bruises lasted a couple of weeks! Amazing what adrenaline can do for you. It is kind of funny that in all the years I spent as a lifeguard I only ever had to make one rescue while on duty (and even then it was only holding a kid up while I stood in 5' of water!), but had to make a number of rescues in other places. To this day i still cannot fully relax around water. Part of me is always on duty.

Here's hoping the insurance covers lots of therapy for those kids. I know a lot of kids whose parents died heroes, and would gladly rather have a drunken asshole that was alive, than a saint of a parent that was dead.


In all seriousness, though, I can't help but feel simultaneously proud, and unworthy to share a species with this guy.

Thank you for being so awesome Dr. Liu.

Does anyone have a link that works?

Oakenshield: See. This is the issue with there being no afterlife. There'd better be a reward for this kind of shiat. That better not have been for.. nothing.

There is no afterlife, but this wasn't for nothing. This character will live on in our minds as an example.

OK I just have to play devil's advocate for a second. Wouldn't he likely have saved far more lives by continuing on in his profession as a pediatrician?

OK, I got it. His kids told him not to but he did, to save someone else's kids. Now his kids, which should have been priority #1 at all times, don't have a father.
I don't want to be the asshole that thinks he is was and idiot, but.....

Enigmamf: OK I just have to play devil's advocate for a second. Wouldn't he likely have saved far more lives by continuing on in his profession as a pediatrician?

^And this.^

wildcardjack It's the 50 year old doctor that wasn't able to handle things.

just waiting for the 1st Farker to post the popular nickname for the Beechcraft Bonanza...

Enigmamf: OK I just have to play devil's advocate for a second. Wouldn't he likely have saved far more lives by continuing on in his profession as a pediatrician?

Possibly, but he would have been less than human to have just stood by and watched those kids die without doing something.

bow: I would normally try to say something snarky, but no.

This man was awesome. We need more people in the world like him.

What society needs is for these 2 kids to earn this. We lost a valuable resource saving them.

Enigmamf: OK I just have to play devil's advocate for a second. Wouldn't he likely have saved far more lives by continuing on in his profession as a pediatrician?

Depends on how he'd have felt at having stood by and watched two kids drown when he could have done something.

I'll bet you he didn't consider that option.

Mock26: Enigmamf: OK I just have to play devil's advocate for a second. Wouldn't he likely have saved far more lives by continuing on in his profession as a pediatrician?

Possibly, but he would have been less than human to have just stood by and watched those kids die without doing something.

Hah, I never seem to refresh the comments before I post... great minds think alike, and all.

He's definitely a hero.

People really should try to pay more attention to the conditions before heading off into the water, especially if you are not familiar with the area. Three tourists recently drowned near where I live after misjudging the current in the river.

What if the kids end up evil? Then didn't we take a net loss as a society?

cyberspacedout: Mock26: Enigmamf: OK I just have to play devil's advocate for a second. Wouldn't he likely have saved far more lives by continuing on in his profession as a pediatrician?

Possibly, but he would have been less than human to have just stood by and watched those kids die without doing something.

Hah, I never seem to refresh the comments before I post... great minds think alike, and all.

I read an interview with his wife and she said that it was his nature to save children. The family is grief stricken but at least have closure knowing that he died doing what he felt was right.
RIP Good man.
Condolences to the family.

Yeah, those two kids he saved better not grow up into a crazy killer who shoots random people or impregnates 12 year olds (or gets pregnant at that age).

The parents of the children must tell them that "A good man died just so you can live, don't waste the life he exchanged for yours!"

GreenSun: Yeah, those two kids he saved better not grow up into a crazy killer who shoots random people or impregnates 12 year olds (or gets pregnant at that age).

The parents of the children must tell them that "A good man died just so you can live, don't waste the life he exchanged for yours!"

And that won't fark them up even more?

Christ, they'll give the hero tag to anyone these days.

"No life being worth any more or less than another, two must be worth more than one."

/you've got all the good I can wish you, Doc.
//your family, too.

FatalDischarge: Does anyone have a link that works?

This is not the original link, it's from our local ABC affiliate here in the South Bend area.

http://www.abc57.com/home/top-stories/Rip-current-deaths-prove-streng t h-of-Lake-Michigan-165203646.html

They showed video of the waves on another station(Which of course can't be found on their site) and I would be hesitant as hades to get in that water. As for the kids getting out and not Dr. Liu, they had him to help them. He probably made sure they were to a point that they could get back but then he was on his own. He was a little younger than I am and even though I'm in good shape for my age, doing what he did was probably physically taxing and I can't say I could have done the same thing and survived myself.

When I first saw the story here on our local news our living room got incredibly dusty and for some reason my wife brought an onion out of the kitchen, cut it in half and rubbed it all over my face.

"What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.". - Salt and Peppah

RIP Dr. Liu