In the 2007 movie “The Bucket List,” Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman portray two terminally ill men crossing off things they’ve always wanted to do before they “kick the bucket.”
Milton Kendall is a very active 66-year-old man from Clinton, Maryland, who attempted to cross off a bucket list experience — and it could have ended his own life last week.
After retiring from the Department of Labor’s Job Corps program, the professional photographer has filled his time with yoga classes, bike rides and, starting three years ago, paddleboarding.
“My yoga friends kept bugging me about it,” Kendall said. “They were going out during COVID, and I went out with them once and I finally bought a board, and the rest is history.”
Last Monday, Kendall wanted to cross something off his bucket list.
“I always had this little bucket list to travel all the way across the Potomac River underneath the Woodrow Wilson Bridge because I know it has a pretty design under it,” Kendall explained. “Especially the columns. It’s like a cathedral sitting in the water.”
It was around 1:15 p.m. when Kendall launched his paddleboard from National Harbor, and he enjoyed sunshine all the way until he paddled up to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge.
“It got darker. I kept telling myself to turn around, but I didn’t,” Kendall told WTOP. The gray skies warned that a storm was coming.
Right around that time, the National Weather Service reported a storm with wind gusts of 31 mph rolling through the area, according to WTOP meteorologist Steve Prinzivalli.
“It took me out into the water, just blew me down stream quick, at least a 100 feet from the bridge,” Kendall recounted.
The thoughts of rescue squads and who knew he was out there ran through Kendall’s mind.
“I had to lean into the board so it was at an angle,” Kendall said. “That’s the only way it didn’t flip me over.”
Kendall told WTOP that he knew the consequences if he stopped paddling.
“I’m going to be swept into National Harbor, and it could have been a big speed boat hit.”
During the entire ordeal, Kendall was filming with his 360-degree camera that is mounted to his board.
“I didn’t show a close up of my face,” Kendall said. “I didn’t want my wife to see the terrified look on my face.”
Luckily, Kendall was able to keep his cool and managed to make it to the shore.
“I threw my hands up in the air and screamed at the river,” he recalled.
There were a lot of lessons that Kendall learned from his experience that he wants to share with other paddleboarders.
“Let someone know where you are. Don’t go out on open water alone,” he listed off. “If there are storm clouds or rain on the horizon, don’t go out in the middle of the Potomac, that’s for damn sure.”
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