Belhaven student Samuel Oh was once awarded for saving a man’s life.

Samuel Oh is a junior biblical studies and intercultural studies major at Belhaven University. Many around campus know him because of his involvement in Fellowship of Christian Athletes on campus and the Resident Assistant program. Only a few know about the heroic act that defined his teenage years.

The journey to learn Samuel or better known as Sam Oh’s story began with a Facebook post on April 11^th asking for crazy or unusual stories students from Belhaven had that they would like to share for a news story. Numerous replies came in ranging from an unusual job experience to swimming with sharks. However, near the end of the search for a story, Samuel Oh shared a portion of his story. “I got an award from the government of Guam for saving someone’s life.”

After reaching out to Sam Oh, he agreed to an interview about his story. Oh is an immigrant from Guam who moved to America to go to college at Belhaven University. When he was sixteen years old, he went hiking with a friend of his and their youth pastor, Greg Barnes.

“The hike was a 30 minute hike with rock climbing involved. The end of the hike was a 40 foot cliff that had a beautiful view of the ocean,” says Oh.

 The three men made it to the top of the cliff and considered jumping into the waters below, but the water was choppy. It seemed unsafe.

“But we were chilling on the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, a rough wave about 30 feet tall came crashing in and swept my youth pastor out. He got sucked out into the ocean and could not swim back.”

Oh and his friend tried to dial 911 for help, but the jungle is no good for cell phone reception. It took forty five minutes to find a place they could get any reception and Oh was scared. Many people had died in those waters. The firefighter’s warning to “prepare for the worst” did not help Oh’s nerves any.

“All I wanted was for the boys to come in and somehow save me, but I knew they would have both died trying,” Barnes said in an article for Backpacker.com.

The all believed it was hopeless for him to survive, but a few minutes after the coast guard was deployed, Barnes was found and rescued.  

Oh, his friend, and Barnes became heroes in Guam. The governor at the time, Eddie Calvo, honored the two boys. Oh received “The Governor’s Awards for saving a fellow Guamanian in danger and helping in the aid of their rescue.” Barnes was featured in Backpacker Magazine in the US and their story made the news in Guam the day after the rescue happened.

The whole experience changed Samuel Oh for the rest of his life. “I had a fear of the ocean and wave for two years after that. I wouldn’t visit the beach for a year and a half after the incident,” explained Oh. He agrees that it was a miracle that his youth pastor survived the event.

Since then Oh has overcome his fear of the ocean and spends most of his time in classes or helping with extracurricular activities instead of hiking. The experience has stuck with him throughout the rest of his life. Oh admits that the experience of seeing his youth pastor nearly die was the worst thing that he had ever lived through, but he also acknowledges the wonder of how Banes survived the incident.

Read the original article by Backpacker.com: https://www.backpacker.com/survival/out-alive-swept-out-to-sea