Has anyone here had to be revived from drowning?

This video might be helpful - it shows lifeguards reviving a drowned man. I found it freaking amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICODRFoWZkw

Lord Dunsany wrote about one that he had, and it is rather interesting.I can't recall the title.

Hey! I was, when I very young. I jumped in the pool without my floaties (is that what they're called? The little balloon things that go on your arms?) Anyway, all I remember is seeing a bright light.
I don't know if it was the tunnel to heaven or the sun, though. Then I remember being yanked up, and next thing I know, I'm on a pool chair and my dad is soaking wet.
That's all I remember. Hope it's helpful!

When I was a kid, (I was 8), we were staying in a motel and I was trying to stop my little sister from getting too close to the pool. She pushed me in. I couldn't swim and I panicked and went under. I don't remember much, apart from everything being swimming-pool blue and the sound of the bubbles. There was a boy in the pool and he saved me, dragged me to the side and got me out. I was still conscious, so no need for any resuscitation. It scared the crap out of me, I remember that much.

I didn't have to be revived, so this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but I did have a near-drowning when I was 7 or 8. I was at a water park with a day camp group. My friend challenged me to race across the wave pool--diagonally, from the shallow end right side to the deep end left side. She was a championship swimmer, I was a decent recreational swimmer.

Swimming against the waves was tough. About 3/4 of the way there, in the super-deep water and strongest waves, I totally lost energy. I sank like a stone. Everything went weird and blue, but incredibly tranquil. I didn't have a stereotypical near-death experience, but I felt peaceful and happy. Time got all weird too. I have no idea if I was down for seconds or minutes. Could have been hours for all I knew (obviously that's not possible).

Then my survival instinct kicked in. I had a strong surge of "I am NOT going to die out here." I rocketed to the surface at least twice as strongly as I normally could manage. I propelled myself to the ladder at the side at what felt like hyper-speed. Launched my upper body over the wall and just laid there, half-in half-out of the water, panting and cramping and feeling like I was going to throw up. Eventually I got back enough strength to crawl out of the pool and drag myself to a chair. I didn't feel "right" for another day or two, but no lasting damage.

In hindsight, it's unbelievable that nobody helped me out. It was a crowded wave pool on a summer afternoon with tons of lifeguards. But I was totally on my own.

Perks said:

Weird, Firedrake. I had a near-drowning at a motel swimming pool when I was 9. A stranger-kid pushed me into the deep end and, in going over, I kicked my sister's hands off the edge that she was holding. She, for some reason, had decided to hand-over-hand it around the perimeter of the pool. She was 7. I was standing at the edge talking to her.

My sister started using my head for leverage now that her cement handholds were out of reach. I also remember everything being blue and muffled. I also remember that I could feel the air on my hands when I could get them above the surface, and I wanted to pull cupped air to my face. Of course, that didn't work very well.

Luckily, my sister made a leap for the edge and I was finally able to resurface.

Scary business.

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that is wierd!

When I was about 8 or 9, I went to the pool with a friend and jumped off a diving board for the first time. The way I hit the water freaked me out and I was waving my arms erratically instead of trying to swim to the surface. The more I panicked, the harder it was to swim upward. A lifeguard jumped in and when she pulled me out, I saw everyone had been called out of the pool solely for my rescue. I was embarrassed, I couldn't stop coughing, and I was nervous the rest of the day. Terrible experience!

This is a bit late so I don't know if it will help but...

I did drown once. I didn't have to be resuscitated by someone else as the sea threw me onto the beach just before I died.

As someone else said, it was a very peaceful experience. Never felt such peace either before or since.

But coughing the water up, that's horrible. It hurts. It burns all the way up. Your stomach is sore, your chest, your throat. You throw up until there is no more to come out. You're exhausted. You have a headache. It's really not nice.

Well for me it was straight away.

I was on a beach with big waves. The trick is to watch the wave and dive through the bottom of it to get out into calmer water.

So I was watching the wave when someone called me. I turned to look, turned back and looked up. Top of the wave way above my head. It hit me hard and I was rolling over and over and over with no idea of which way was up. I relaxed totally. And I remember thinking 'I'm going to die'. But I was at complete peace.

I learnt later that this is a physiological reaction. If you drop into, or are hit by, cold water, your brain releases chemicals that calm you. It's not the same reaction as falling into a pool, that usually causes panic.

I can also remember breathing in the first mouthful of water. That was .... weird. It didn't hurt and I didn't fight it. It just... happened.

In summer camp I leapt off a pier and caught my diaphram on the cross support of a nearby slide. I went to the bottom in about 6 feet of water and was pulled out by the lifeguard. I don't quite think I hit near death just then. But then again, I was unconcious at the time and re-awoke about the time my head came out of the water. After that, it hurt like heck to breath.