A woman has been left mortified after stripping down to her underwear to save a man from 'drowning' in open water - only to discover he's an elite scuba diver on a training exercise. She explained how she was jogging alongside Lake Jocassee in South Carolina, when she spotted a "dark mass" floating to the surface about 40ft away from the beach and decided to take a closer look fearing a person was in danger.
After recognising it to be a man with his head "tipped back" in the water, she wasted no time stripping down to her bra and pants and wading out toward him. Hilariously recalling the story, she said: "This dude looked dead - dead. [He was] facing away from me, his head was tipped back, eyes closed, bobbing like a fishing lure.
"No one else was around, so I thought he was quantum crazy out here scuba diving alone at the crackass of dawn."
"I didn’t yell at him to check-in. Instead, I took off my shoes and stripped to my skivvies to save [him]. I was wearing my contacts so I swam hard in his direction with my eyes closed.
"When I open them, he was staring at me like I'd lost my mind, so I blurted, 'Are you okay?' He removed the regulator and incredulously said 'Yes'."
It was at this point when she realised she'd slightly misjudged the situation - and the man wasn't in any danger or in need of rescue.
"I turned to nope the hell out of there, yelling over my shoulder, 'I thought you needed saving' to explain my idiocy," she added.
"As I pivoted, another dude cleared his throat from 30ft away on the other side. I never heard a sound from him so I freaked out, failing and belting an ear wounding scream at him.
"Both laughed as a few more heads surfaced around us. I was surrounded by divers all wildly entertained by my ridiculous high-octane.
"After pointing to me and the beach, the merman that was my original target cautiously swam toward me after I nodded and escorted me to the shore."
But when swimming back, the woman began to panic fearing she didn't have the energy or strength to make it back to dry land.
Realising this, and while still laughing at her mistake, the scuba diver she heroically tried to save offered to give her a 'tow' back to shore.
But not wanting to give up, she said she'd find a way to make it without his help.
She said: "The beach was much further than I had anticipated, so I was trying to low-key breathe, hiding my need to suck all of the O2 from the air. Also, the comedy of the situation consumed me and I started to giggle.
"Finally, I joked, 'Dude, you are lucky you weren’t actually dying because It would have taken everything I have to drag your sorry ass this far'.
"He chuckled before offering me a 'tow.' [I said] 'Hell, no! Not gonna happen.' Even if I had to dog paddle, I wouldn't openly accept that defeat.
"He quietly mocked me the rest of the way to the shore. I'm a secret sap for it."
After making it to dry land, she learned the group were recent graduates from a military college, carrying out training exercises in open water.
"They had been out there at least part of the night. I’m sure I blew-up whatever drill they were running," she added.
"At the shore, I did my best to throw my shoulders back and march out of the water in my sports bra and undies in front of what I can only imagine are some pretty badass men.
"I did invite him and his clandestine crew for an absurdly overpriced beer at the bar tonight before shame-jogging back into the woods for my clothes."
After her story resurfaced on Reddit, users started begging her for an update wanting to know whether she kept in touch with the professional divers.
One users said: "I feel like there are probably easier ways to get a guy. A+ for effort."
Another user added: "Did they go the distance? Other than the distance from the regulator to the shore, that is."
A third user said: "Merman and firefly, where are you at now?"
One more user said: "Military guys are notoriously easy to catch. He’s probably out buying the wedding ring right now."
Do you have a story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.
