BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Indiana receiver Isaac Griffith kept his composure as long as possible Saturday.

It was never going to last.
He
listened stoically as safety Ty Smith explained how he ignored the dire
warnings from his aquatics management class and his own mother, a
former lifeguard, to run back into the water and help pull his best
friend out of a life-threatening rip current. He heard receiver Nick
Stoner explain how he ran the fastest 500-meter sprint of his life to
seek medical help. He heard his parents describe his incredibly speedy
recovery as nothing short of miraculous.
After all that, of course the tears started flowing.
"These
(three) guys are my brothers, I love them to death," the 19-year-old
freshman said, covering his eyes. "I always say that if you can take
three warriors into battle, I’ll take those three every time."
Without
that trio of Indiana students— Smith, Stoner and Mitch McCune —
Griffith probably wouldn’t have been in the Hoosiers’ team room on a
crisp, blustery spring afternoon, explaining how grateful he is for a
second chance at life.
His parents, Shannon and Kim, probably
wouldn’t have made the three-hour drive from northeastern Indiana to the
Bloomington campus to share a few laughs, shed a few tears and reflect
on how their religious faith helped them cope with the near tragedy that
Shannon Griffith, Isaac’s father and the head coach at Division III
Manchester University, said literally put him on his knees.
Saturday
was the first time Griffith, his parents and two of the three rescuers
sat together to answer questions about what
happened that frightening
March 17 afternoon and the recovery that has Griffith on the way back to
playing football. McCune, who is not a football player and had already
spoken to reporters in Florida, did not attend the emotional 30-minute
news conference.
But Griffith knows how lucky he is to be alive thanks to the three guys who risked their own lives to
save his.
All
the 6-foot, 185-pound football player wanted to do that afternoon was
get to Florida’s Gulf Coast and go for a short swim in the calm,
waist-high water. But when the water turned into a choppy torrent of
waves with a powerful undertow, Griffith, a strong swimmer, knew he was
in trouble.
McCune quickly reached out and grabbed his friend and started pulling him toward the shoreline.
When
Stoner and Smith, who were already back on the safe sands of Siesta
Beach, couldn’t see McCune and Griffith, they sprang into action. Stoner
climbed a lifeguard’s chair and directed Smith back into the dangerous
waters.
"In that situation, you’re not thinking about that," Smith said. "That was the last thing
on my mind. He was my best friend."
Eventually,
Stoner directed Smith to McCune and together they got Griffith out of
the water and onto the beach and started performing CPR. Stoner, one of
the Hoosiers’ fastest players, was then instructed to get an ambulance.
He wound up running to a condominium across the street in record time.
"I felt like Forrest Gump," Stoner said. "Mitch just told me to run and that’s all I
really know how to do."
Doctors later credited the quick reactions of Griffith’s friends with saving his life.
But there were still plenty of twists and turns ahead.
Smith
called Griffith’s parents to tell them what had happened, and then kept
them apprised of the situation until they arrived at Sarasota Memorial
Hospital. Once there, Griffith’s parents were told it would be "days"
before their son was brought out of a medically-induced coma. While he
recovered, there were concerns about Griffith’s lungs. His parents and
friends repeatedly asked supporters to pray for him to win the "little
battles," something they unwittingly were doing themselves.
"I
remember hearing my uncle’s voice and my teammates’ voices when they
came to talk to me," Griffith said. "The doctors said that when my
teammates talked to me, the (vital sign) numbers went through the roof."
By
March 20, Griffith was awake and breathing on his own though doctors
cautioned he still was not "out of the woods." Three days after that,
Griffith, astoundingly, was discharged from the hospital and on his way
home.
Today, things are starting to get back to normal.
Griffith
is jogging and lifting weights as he works his way back into football
shape. After Thursday’s spring practice, he stood in place and caught
passes from quarterback Tre Roberson, and he hopes to be given the
all-clear in time for the start of practice in August. And despite
reports Griffith had been drinking before going into the water, the
family said alcohol had nothing to do with the near drowning and that
there has been no indication yet of any possible criminal charges.
All Griffith’s parents can say now is thanks.
"It’s
hard for me to hear what these kids went through," Shannon Griffith
said as he paused to regain his composure and his wife wiped her eyes.
"Like I said these three are now a part of our family."
Isaac Griffith couldn’t imagine it any other way.
"I
don’t ever take anything for granted anymore," he said, his voice
starting to crack. "I thank God every day for waking me up to that, for
getting me back to football and getting me back to my friends and
family."
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