Brrrr-splash
By Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on January 11, 2015 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
T-Rex Crawford laughs at a crowd of onlookers as he makes his way out of Walnut Creek Lake during the Polar Plunge fundraiser to benefit WATCH Saturday. More than a dozen people took the plunge. Just before turning to jump into the water the for a second time, Crawford said "I like it, I love it, I want some more of it."
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Emma Padgett, 10, rushes out of the cold water in Walnut Creek Lake on Saturday during the Polar Plunge to benefit WATCH.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Reporter Kirsten Ballard takes a dive into the chilly water at the Polar Plunge Saturday.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Reporter Kirsten Ballard did not just cover the 2015 Polar Plunge. She dove right in, too.
Emma Padgett was frozen.
The 10-year-old stood shivering in her Elsa hat, wrapped in towels.
"I can't feel my feet," she said. "I probably have pneumonia on my feet."
I felt the same way after I took the plunge at Saturday's Polar Plunge at Walnut Creek Lake. The morning was a biting 31 degrees. Close to 50 people came to the event, with just more than a dozen brave souls taking the plunge.
The wind made it feel arctic. I regretted agreeing to jump when I had to shed my winter jacket and approach the waterside.
We were "Freezing for a Reason" though. The event raised money for WATCH Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force efforts in Wayne County.
Event coordinator Karen Padgett got the idea for Goldsboro's first polar plunge a year ago. She said she headed up the event because there had never been an official Polar Plunge in Goldsboro before, and she wanted to come up with a creative way to fundraiser for WATCH.
"Jump whenever you're ready," she said.
The bravest souls took off with running swan dives.
T-Rex Crawford, who sits on the WATCH Task Force, was brave enough to jump in Lake Wackena twice, shouting "I like it, I love it, I want some more of it," as he cannonballed into the water the second time.
"I've never done it before this, no," Crawford said. "But I would do it again."
Despite the morning being below freezing, Steve Hannant, the first person to plunge headlong into the water, said he thought the day was perfect for the event.
"It wasn't too bad. It was a good day for it with the sun being out," Hannant said. "The water was a little cold but it was for a good cause. We got lucky -- it wasn't too bad with the sun being out."
Bella Bowen is an old pro at the polar plunge. This was her second event. The 14-year-old loves the adrenaline rush.
"You can't feel your body," she said before the event. "You feel knives sticking in you." It was not a comforting pep talk. Participants signed waivers, and EMTs and law enforcement were on standby.
I approached the lake with the more hesitant jumpers. I took the plunge with Casie Butts. She was there to mark it off her bucket list.
"It's something I've always wanted to do," she said. "I'm excited but it's a little cold."
She jumped with gleeful abandon, flailing her arms to propel herself into the icy waters.
Deciding on a cannonball approach, I jumped blindly into the shallower water. It felt like needles all over my skin. Breaking through the surface, Casie greeted me with a loud "wahoo."
My brain was too frozen to respond. My extremities went numb as I got out of the lake, demanding my towels and hot hands packets.
"It wasn't as bad as I thought," Karen said as she toweled off.
But not everyone shared the same sentiment.
"It was way worse than I thought," Emma laughed. She says she won't do it again until she is at least 15. She was this year's youngest participant.
Karen hopes the event will become an annual fundraiser. Emma and I hope that it gets replaced with a solar plunge.
News-Argus Staff Writer Ethan Smith contributed to this story.