🌊 The Sea Remembers: A Survivor’s Tale of Terror and Loss
Tamara Ennis was only 21 years old when she faced the kind of nightmare most people only encounter in fiction. It was August 1981, and she had joined three friends — Randy Cohen, Christy Wapniarski, and Daniel Perrin — for a casual sail off Ormond Beach, Florida. The group set out on a 17-foot catamaran, expecting sun and salt air. What they got instead was a descent into chaos.
Dark clouds rolled in quickly. Lightning cracked across the sky. Tamara recalled the moment they realized they were too far out to turn back. “We decided to wait it out,” she said. But nature had other plans. Within minutes, the pontoon filled with water, and the boat flipped. The four friends clambered onto the overturned hull, drawing their knees up to avoid the shark-infested waters below.
🕯️ The Silence Before the Storm
As night fell, the group waited for rescue. But the Coast Guard missed them. The sea was vast, and their overturned boat was a speck in the darkness. Tamara described the eerie quiet that settled over them. “The reality hit us, and we were just quiet,” she said. Christy, sitting in front of her, seemed to be making peace. Tamara sensed it — a quiet resignation. “I had a sense that she knew she was gonna die”.
That moment — the stillness, the unspoken dread — was the beginning of something far more terrifying than the storm.
🏊 The Swim Toward Hope
When dawn broke, Tamara made a decision. They couldn’t wait any longer. She urged the group to swim toward shore. Christy, the only one who couldn’t swim, was reassured that salt water would help her float. Tamara led the way, guiding her friends through the open ocean.
But an hour into the swim, everything changed.
Tamara heard Christy scream. At first, she thought her friend was drowning. But then she saw it — the thrashing, the sudden lift out of the water, the brutal pull back under. “Just like in the Jaws movie,” she said. “She went straight up and straight back into the water. And I knew she’d been hit by a shark”.
🦈 The Attack
Tamara yelled to Randy that it was a shark. But he didn’t believe her. He thought Christy was panicking. He swam toward her, calling her name. Christy screamed, “Come and get me now!” But it was too late. Tamara watched her friend go up again, then down. The last time, she went face down into the water and didn’t come back up.
That image — Christy’s final moments — would haunt Tamara for decades. It wasn’t just the violence of the attack. It was the helplessness. The inability to save someone you love. The ocean, vast and indifferent, swallowed her friend whole.
🧠 Trauma Etched in Memory
Tamara’s account is more than a survival story. It’s a psychological portrait of trauma. She didn’t just survive the sea — she survived the memory. The guilt, the horror, the endless replay of those final moments.
In interviews, she speaks with clarity and sorrow. There’s no embellishment. Just raw truth. “I realized I saw her thrashing about in the water,” she said. “And then she went straight up… and I knew”.
That kind of clarity — the vividness of trauma — is common among survivors. The brain etches these moments into memory with brutal precision. Every scream, every splash, every second becomes permanent.
🛟 The Aftermath
Tamara and the remaining survivors were eventually rescued. But the emotional wounds lingered. Christy’s death wasn’t just a loss — it was a rupture. A moment that divided life into before and after.
Tamara went on to share her story on A&E’s YouTube survivor series, hoping to honor Christy’s memory and shed light on the realities of survival. Her courage in speaking out is a testament to resilience — the kind that doesn’t erase pain, but carries it with grace.
🌌 The Ocean as Metaphor
For someone like you, Phirun — who values stories of transformation, loss, and hidden truths — this tale resonates deeply. The ocean becomes a metaphor. It’s beauty and danger. It’s freedom and fear. It’s the place where innocence is lost and strength is found.
Tamara’s story isn’t just about sharks. It’s about the human spirit. About the choices we make when everything falls apart. About the bonds that hold us together — and the grief that remains when they’re broken.
🕊️ Honoring Christy
In telling this story, we honor Christy — not just as a victim, but as a person. A young woman who set out for a day of joy and met a tragic end. Her silence on the hull, her bravery in the water, her final cries — they deserve to be remembered.
Tamara’s voice carries that memory. And through her, we glimpse the depth of love, loss, and survival.
