CHS teacher authors new book about survival, journey of faith

Imagine being in a boat with some friends out on the open water. Now imagine that a storm blows up suddenly, capsizing the boat and sending everyone into the cold waters. Imagine a strong current pulling you under, making it nearly impossible for you to keep your head above the surface. Could you survive?

For Corbin High School social studies teacher Cheryl Tinsley, this is not a hypothetical situation. She lived it one fateful day as a 20-year-old college student in 1980, and despite a doctor telling her that there is no scientific explanation for why or how she could have survived the ordeal, here she is today, sharing her harrowing story with others in hopes that they will find inspiration, and the hope to carry on through some of life’s toughest challenges.

Forty years after the tragic incident that changed her life, and the lives of many others, Tinsley has recounted the events in a new book titled Wave by Wave: A Memoir of Survival, Faith, and How God Works, which is available now on Amazon.com.

“The reason that I wrote this book is, I should’ve died a long time ago,” said Tinsley, a Michigan native and former college athlete. “It was not easy to write, but I wanted to write it so that people will know that, when you encounter times of trauma or grief in this life, God is there for you if you will just look to Him. We all experience waves, but He can give us calmness and peace in the storm. There is always hope.”

Tinsley’s story of survival began when she and some friends attempted to paddle across a channel on a section of Lake Huron one day while she was employed by a large Christian camp in her home state of Michigan. Suddenly, a freak storm toppled her canoe, sending her and her companions into the water. After fighting for her survival and drifting across international waters into Canada, she was ultimately rescued some 15 hours later.

“The doctor told me that there is no scientific reason why I should be alive,” Tinsley recalled. “I was told that those storms only come through once every 10-12 years. We tried to paddle back to shore after we capsized, but the current was so strong. The storm stayed in that channel for about 8-9 hours. If I hadn’t eventually drifted onto land, I would have died.”

Tinsley said that  she knew for a long time that she wanted to share her story with others by releasing a book about the events that transpired, but years spent working as a park ranger in several different areas of the country, and eventually beginning a career in education while raising a family here in Corbin, left time for little else. Now, with her children grown and retirement on the horizon, she felt that the time was finally right to take on the project.

“I knew that I wanted to write the book for a couple of decades,” Tinsley explained. “But with children and work, it was just difficult to do. I felt like now was the right time, though. I started working on it back in February, and the whole process was kind of like birthing a baby. It took about nine-and-a-half months to complete, but I wanted to write it now so that everyone could get the full story firsthand.”

Tinsley said that she has been amazed with the reception that her book has received so far, despite it only being available for a little over a month. “I am getting responses from all around,” she said. “Both people locally, and people that I haven’t talked to in years.”

“This is my story, and it isn’t just for believers. It is for anybody, because we all go through storms. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, and we don’t have to be old to die, so I hope people will read this and decide to live each day to the fullest.”

For more information on Wave by Wave, visit www.wavebywave.net.