"Heather Barnes, 20... was on a school trip and decided to do some early-morning coral collecting when her leg cramped..."

"... and the tide pulled her away from the reef, starting a 16-hour nightmare that would leave Barnes hallucinating from dehydration with severe sunburns, jellyfish stings and blisters."

At first Barnes thought it would be safer to try and stay in the same place, thinking that her group would soon notice her missing and send search and rescue crews after her. After two hours of idling and no sign of other life, she decided she would have to swim back herself....

'It's kind of strange because even when I didn't feel like I was strong enough, there was enough of me that still wanted to keep going. It didn't seem like a choice. I just - I had to keep going,' Barnes told....

Young women, swimming for their lives... it's a theme this week, along with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge plunger.