Personal Narrative: William Mootz's Life

Life is a Las Vegas storm, it is beautiful at times but very unpredictable and without warning will change in the blink of an eye, as William’s did. The life of William Mootz was unexpectedly taken in an early chapter of his life. Most of the friendships Will made carried on with him till the day he died, the rest of us were left here to deal with his death and move on.
Our friendship was not the strongest, but it began seven years ago when I first began attending middle school. William lived less than ten houses away from me so I would see him and his posse riding bikes down the street as well as the wash behind our neighborhood. One day, after seeing Will and his friends riding bikes in the mesa, by our school, they showed up at my front door wondering if I wanted to ride bikes with them, it

was apparent that they wanted me in the group.

As time went on our friendship grew, but once William moved on to high school our friendship greatly diminished because of his involvement in school clubs and sports such as; wrestling and choir. Once I arrived to Green Valley High School our friendship was revived for a short time, since we would see each other around school. Then in the summer of my sophomore year things took a turn for the worst.
The day was much different than the stereotypical summer day, due to the blackened sky and the very light rainfall that would turn deadly. On Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012, Las Vegas was hit with one of the worst storms in decades, with rainfall measuring in at 1.61 inches. On the way back from eating breakfast with my two cousins we noticed the miniscule droplets of rain turn into a down pour in a matter of minutes. We decided to stop by the Pitman wash to see the flood waters traveling down the channel. While watching this raging river, we were approached by a man who was under the impression he saw someone in the fast moving water. My cousins and I looked at one another in disbelief, we could not understand why any sane person

would have gone in there so we ignored him and went about our day. A few hours past and my mother received a call from my aunt, notifying her that a boy by the name of William Mootz was missing. After my mom informed me of the news I scoured the internet searching for more information on the story and I came across an interview with man from earlier. He was clamming to have seen someone struggling to stay afloat as they helplessly drifted down the wash. The news report confirmed that the person in the wash was William. The next day search efforts began. Search and rescue teams along with hundreds of volunteers, including myself, hunted through the dense brush of the muddy wetlands, looking for any sign or remnants of Will. After the first day of searching was unsuccessful the chances of finding him alive strongly decreased. After searching endlessly for around four hours the next day I went home unhopeful that he would be found alive. Impatiently waiting by the TV, I watched the news for around an hour until the breaking news report came up on the screen. His lifeless body was found face down, buried in debris and mud. In a twist of fate William died in the same place that he lived. From that day forward our community was forever changed.
Dealing with death is one of life’s most cruel but necessary experiences. The day after Will’s body was found the principal of Green Valley High School decided to have a candle light vigil for him. Not only did it serve to remember him, but it also gave closure to many of the friends that William had acquired over the years. His death devastated the students and faculty of Green Valley High School. For William’s closest friends it seemed quite hard to get through the next few weeks knowing that they would never see him again, talk to him again, say goodbye, say sorry, or anything of that matter. With every death there is a lesson to be learned.
Although I was heartbroken over his death I found a small but relevant silver lining. I realized how short life is and how much shorter it can be. In a way his death made me appreciate and value my life a lot more than I used to. For nearly everyone it takes a traumatizing experience to make someone appreciate life more. More than likely a run in with death will do the trick.