Call of the Whales (2012)
“‘I wouldn’t have drowned,’ I said indignantly. ‘The water was only waist-high.’ ‘You can drown in a puddle if you’re weak enough,’ said my dad.
‘I wasn’t weak. Turaq said he didn’t rescue me from the sea. I managed to pull myself out.’ ‘I know that,’ Dad said, ‘but he saved you from death by hypothermia.’ ‘Hyper-what?’ ‘Thermia, meaning heat, as in a Thermos flask. And it’s hypo, not hyper. Hypothermia. What old people die of in winter.’ ‘I’m not old,’ I said stubbornly, ‘and it’s summer.’ ...I didn’t like to be fussed about. I suppose I felt a bit stupid for falling in the water.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ said Dad. ‘It’s summer, but this is the Arctic. The sea is only just above freezing point, and anyone who falls into it can die within an hour unless someone warms them up, especially on a cool day like this.’ ‘Well, I wish he’d taken off my wet things first,’ I said crossly.MoreLess
‘I wasn’t weak. Turaq said he didn’t rescue me from the sea. I managed to pull myself out.’ ‘I know that,’ Dad said, ‘but he saved you from death by hypothermia.’ ‘Hyper-what?’ ‘Thermia, meaning heat, as in a Thermos flask. And it’s hypo, not hyper. Hypothermia. What old people die of in winter.’ ‘I’m not old,’ I said stubbornly, ‘and it’s summer.’ ...I didn’t like to be fussed about. I suppose I felt a bit stupid for falling in the water.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ said Dad. ‘It’s summer, but this is the Arctic. The sea is only just above freezing point, and anyone who falls into it can die within an hour unless someone warms them up, especially on a cool day like this.’ ‘Well, I wish he’d taken off my wet things first,’ I said crossly.MoreLess
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