Sometimes It's The Darkness That Helps Us Find The Light

"Fate whispers to the warrior, 'You cannot withstand the storm.' The warrior whispers back, 'I am the storm.' "

I’m a collector.

Books.

Rocks.

Prehistoric artifacts.

Watches.

Fossils.

But mostly stories.

I love stories.? I believe they are the fabric of life. And I’m convinced the great communicators wield them like a magic wand.

Which is why my decision to attend a rock and fossil show a week ago turned out to be so important. ?

I walked into a little side booth in a grassy field way up in the mountains to look at – of all things - Megalodon teeth.?

OK, I'm a little different.

Megs went extinct about 3 and half million years ago and they were ocean dwellers, not mountain residents.

All you need to know is that they were big sharks – they were the apex predators of their time – and they make today’s descendants (Great Whites) look like guppies.

A bad, bad fish - possibly up to 70 feet long and 50 tons of bad.

The intrepid hunters of Meg teeth are primarily scuba divers – who pitch themselves into hazy water and descend to the bottom of southeastern United States rivers to try and find the only remnant of these giants that remains.

An intact 6-incher will easily command more than a thousand dollars.? Even smaller specimens carry a healthy price tag.

Experienced hunters can make a lot of coin.

But there is a risk involved.

Which is why my conversation with the guy working the booth that day has stayed with me.

We started with random small talk. He mentioned in passing that he had been out of commission for a while.

I asked why – he answered simply, “Well, I got injured.”

“Oh yeah,” I said, “What happened?”

“An alligator tried to eat me.”

“Wait…what?”

He smiled and shrugged – as if being consumed by a large reptile was an everyday thing.

And then he gave me what might turn out to be the single greatest story of my collection. ?

William lives down near Charleston, SC. He prowls the rivers and tributaries on the hunt for precious fossils – mostly Meg teeth.

He’s a certified diver – and he explained that to find the big ones you have to dive down into the murk – all the way to the bottom where you sift through the sand and hope.

Sometimes you get lucky.

Three plus months ago William got very lucky – at least for a while. He had filled a diving bag – and was surfacing with his precious cargo when he noticed an object cutting through the water – in his direction.

Big…really, really big.

The gator was the largest he had ever seen on the Cooper River.

It had its eyes on the lone diver in the water.

And it was not slowing down.

William explained that sometimes large gators make a show of bull rushing you – demonstrating their dominance – before they peel off and move along.

This one wasn’t playing.

When it was less than 10 feet away it cocked its head – and it was at that point that William realized the nightmare was real.

He managed to thrust his right arm in the air just before contact.

The gator grabbed it – and then yanked him underwater.

Into the blackness.

William struggled – but the gator shook him like a rag doll – and continued to descend.

Somehow William got his hands on the screwdriver that he used to rake the river bottom in search of fossils.

He stabbed the giant beast – praying he could take out his eye.

But the monster shook him again and William felt the waters grow even cooler – so dark now that he couldn’t see even inches in front of him.

Until finally they reached the silt of the bottom – 50 feet down.

By now his air was running out – the creature lay on top of him, waiting for its prey to die, so massive that William couldn’t even get his legs around the body.

A modern day dinosaur. Preparing to feast.

The gator shook him one more time – even more violently than before.

And it was then that William realized he was going to die.

Here in a cold, black hell – devoured by a soulless primitive creature whose world could not be escaped.

William tried to yank his arm out of the gator’s mouth – assuming that if he gave up the arm maybe the rest of him might be able to get to the surface.

It didn’t matter. There was no release.

William screamed into his air mask – and with one final gasp he plunged his screwdriver into the mouth of the animal.

And the gator let go. ?

Disappeared into the black.

Badly injured, William managed to surface - one arm terribly mangled and broken – the other simply broken.

He could not pull himself out of the water. Remembered little about the emergency evacuation to the trauma unit.

But he had survived.

Later, a local expert examined the bite wounds on William’s arm and said the animal was at least 13 feet long.

“No one,” that specialist suggested, “should have survived an attack from an alligator that size.”

But William did. He told me that his will to live wouldn’t allow him to quit.

And so he didn’t.

Three months later he was telling his story to a fascinated listener who couldn’t believe it was actually true – until I googled it - watched the Good Morning America segment – read the various newspaper articles.

I was talking to a miracle man – one so soft spoken that I might never have heard his tale if I hadn’t asked a few more questions.

I bought a tooth from William that day.

I think I’ll carry it with me for a while – it might serve as a good reminder when I find myself dealing with the inconveniences of my life – the troubles that seem so overwhelming.

Or perhaps I’ll show it to a client unhappy with their manager – or unfulfilled in their job assignment – or worried about an organizational restructure.

Maybe it will help both of us to appreciate what?real adversity?looks like. ?

What real courage can render – what an indomitable spirit actually means.?

I have a tooth to show them – and it has a story to tell. ?

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To learn more about William Georgitis visit voodoofossils.com

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