I've been a search and rescue diver for 12 years. Three weeks ago I found something that has me considering a career change.

I've been a search and rescue diver for 12 years. I’ve been involved in hundreds of recoveries. Usually it's just a car that's slipped off a bridge and into the water. Sometimes it's a kid that strayed too far from his fishing pole. Sometimes it's just an unmarked drop off. Whatever the reason, I'm usually the one who finds the bodies. <br><br>Usually it's just bodies. <br><br>I've been with this particular agency for eight years. My partner, Jerrod, is the best diver I've ever met. The guy is strong, focused and has a talent for getting a hook on people when other divers can't even locate the body. <br><br>I'm not saying that to sugar coat what happened. This is what actually happened. <br><br>We got the call on a Tuesday morning around 2 a.m. A young couple was in a position to witness a horrible car accident. They saw a woman's car slide across the road and into a ditch. The car hit the embankment so hard that the airbags didn't even have time to deploy. <br><br>Unfortunately, the road the woman had slid off of was right next to a lake that fed into a river. After the car gained enough speed it sailed across the gap and landed in the water. <br><br>The couple was certain the driver had been killed in the accident, but they called 911 and approached the wreck, if only to confirm that there was no one else in the vehicle. <br><br>When the 911 operator asked them if they had confirmed there was no one else in the car all the woman could bring herself to say was, "There's so many... There are too many to count."<br><br>The police showed up and confirmed. <br><br>A lake car is the absolute worst. <br><br>The first thing we had to do was confirm there was no one alive in the wreck. I've heard rumors of professional divers finding survivors hours after an accident because the water was so cold the people were able to start experiencing a diver's high. <br><br>All I know is that I've never found anyone alive in a lake car. I have found living animals, but never people.<br><br>We entered the water on the South side of the bank, not far from the couple. We swam at a slight angle toward the middle of the lake with the current. <br><br>When you dive without a line it's very easy to lose track of your bearings. Following a current keeps you straight.<br><br>After about five minutes of swimming we saw the outline of the cars roof just a few feet ahead of us. <br><br>We swam closer and shone our lights on the wreck. <br><br>The accident must have been bad. The car was upside down and the front of it appeared crumpled. If the driver had been killed on impact I would have been happy for her. <br><br>A lake recovery almost always ends in a closed casket funeral. <br><br>"Can you see inside?" I asked Jerrod as I followed his light.<br><br>I couldn't see inside from where I was.<br><br>"No, but the windshield is gone," he answered calmly. "I'll check it."<br><br>He crawled under the wreck and shone his light inside.<br><br>"Holy shit," he said. "There's five at least. I'm going to try to get a hook."<br><br>I watched in amazement as Jerrod crawled into the wreck. I'd never seen that happen before. <br><br>The usual technique was to check the surrounding area for anyone the current may have separated from the wreck. Then you try to find openings or flimsy metal to use a carabiner on. Once you have the hook in place you call for the winch and let the machine do all the hard work. <br><br>This situation was different. The car had gained a lot of momentum before it hit the water. The front was crushed and had the frame bent backward. <br><br>Jerrod crawled into the wreck almost as easily as he would walk through a front door. <br><br>"Holy shit, dude. There's so many... there's six, I can see six."<br><br>"Can you see the driver?" I asked him.<br><br>"No. She's probably in the trunk."<br><br>"Hell of a drive, man."<br><br>"Hell of a drive," he agreed. <br><br>There was a long pause.<br><br>"Alright, I've got a hook in place. I'm going to go back outside and get out of the way."<br><br>He crawled back out and we swam away. <br><br>"Well that was fun," he said as we swam away. "You going to call for the winch or am I?"<br><br>"I'll call it in," I said. "You think we're going to need a bag?"<br><br>"Yeah," he answered. "Definitely. But you know what? I don't think we're going to need more than one."<br><br>"One bag for six people?" I laughed. "You must have been beamed aboard the deathstar."<br><br>"I saw a lot of water in the car," he explained. "I'm willing to bet they all drowned."<br><br>"Car slid under at 80 miles an hour," I said. "I think you might be right. I'm going to call it in. You want to go back and look for the driver?"<br><br>"No," he said quickly. "I'm going to go look around the area and try to make sure we don't miss anyone. This freaking current is strong as hell."<br><br>"Hell of a drive," I said again as I checked the radio connection on my vest.