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BOSTON (WBZ) ― It sounded like a harmless idea. A family fun trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit my wife's sister and her husband. We had been talking about it for months and we finally had a window of time to head down before summer drew to a close.

We figured the weekend before Labor Day would be perfect. Kids haven't started school yet. Summer youth sports were over. Airfare was cheap on JetBlue. We leave Friday morning and come back Monday afternoon. Perfect.

Now, for about a year, my sister-in-law had been telling us about this cool adventure center that we HAVE to go to when we come down to visit. It's the U.S. National Whitewater Rafting Center. A very cool, fun somewhat family-friendly place to spend a day. I figured why not? Now, I'm not an adventurous person by any means. I workout, spin, and run and that's about it. The most adventurous thing I do is probably jump on Walt Disney World's Splash Mountain ride every year with my daughter. Other than that, I'm generally watching my kids play whatever sport they're in or I'm working. I'm a pretty simple guy.

ARRIVAL

I was convinced that this trip to the park would be fun. And, it was. The center is man-made and offered everything for the adventure family. There are mountain bike trails, rock-climbing, zip-lines, kayaking, and whitewater rafting spread out over 300-plus beautiful acres. You can pick and choose whatever you'd like to do. How cool is this? Look at this little nugget from their website:

"Inspired by the successful Penrith Whitewater Stadium built for the 2000 Olympics and the stadium built for the 2004 Athens Games, the USNWC is designated by the United States Olympic Committee as an official Olympic Training Site."

We arrive at 10:00 a.m. and were greeted by friendly staff that shuffled us off to the "waiver" table. Yep, you guessed it. We signed our lives away that day.

We purchased the AllSport pass that allows the six of us to do it all. We were ready to enjoy all that the center had to offer.

THE ZIP LINE

We made our reservation for rafting. The first available time was 2:45p. With time on our hands we headed to the zip line course. Looked like fun. Here's the description from the website:

"Come get your wings at the USNWC on a one-of-a-kind 1,123-foot zipline… the Mega Zipline adventure will make your heart race as you fly over our world-class whitewater rapids.

Once participants are secured with a harness, tether, and helmet, they ascend to a 46-foot-high platform to be properly equipped for their flight. After a safety talk, zippers step off the platform and glide with an eagle's view over the largest expanse of water on our grounds."

I'll admit I was a bit nervous as I put on the "zip gear"... the harness, tether, and helmet. I didn't want to show fear because I was with my 14-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter. It just wouldn't look good. We climbed up the 46-foot-high platform and with knees shaking I "zipped". And... it was a blast.

Once I opened my eyes, I realized how cool it was to soar over the river rapids below me and look around at the beauty of the facility. Finished up and wanted to go back and do it again.

After that, lunch. Always a favorite part of any day.

WHITEWATER

Next we had our appointment for whitewater rafting. The six of us (me, my wife, my son, my daughter, my wife's sister, and my brother-in-law) arrived at the "instruction area" at 2:30 p.m. for a 2:45 p.m. trip. We went through the rules and regulations with a "guide". He was a young man who looked exactly like what you'd expect: a surfer type dude. He explained how to wear the life vest and helmet properly. He also taught us how to handle the large oar that we would be using to steer/guide the raft. He explained that the only thing to worry about was that oar. Don't let go of it as the handle could possibly hit someone else in the boat and cause some possible "dental problems". Got it.

The six of us and our guide, a pretty nice guy named Hayden, jumped into our raft and prepared for "Adventure Rafting" trip as described on the website:

"Our most popular rafting trip, Adventure Rafting represents the mid-point between our relaxed Family Rafting and the more extreme Rodeo Rafting trips. While no prior experience is required, our professional guides will take you down all of our class II-IV whitewater channels for one wild trip.

Designed for those who wish to experience world-class whitewater, participants should be comfortable getting wet with the potential of coming out of their boat.

Hold on - have fun"!

GAINING CONFIDENCE

We paddled out to a large pool that was nice and calm. In front of us were the large pumps that controlled the flow of the river courses. There were different levels from beginner to advanced.

We went down the easy course first so that Hayden could test our ability and it was nice. A quick trip. Some paddling. A little splash of water. Very cool.

We went down a few times and then we were ready for the tough one... the class IV adventure course. I was quite confident we were ready for it. I was in the back near Hayden, who was doing a good job barking out instructions: one butt cheek on the seat, the other on the side of the raft, "crack on crack" as he joked; feet securely in the loops down below; paddle out and ready to strike the water when called upon. Yes, by the time we hit the tough course we were quite a team. The Roche's and Diaz's were flawless performers. It was time to bring it. And we did.

'ONE MORE TIME'

We went down a few times and it was awesome. My 11-year-old daughter got dunked once (she was quickly pulled up by my sister-in-law) and we all got soaked pretty good, all while avoiding the professional kayakers who were tackling the rapids as well. It was a very, very strong man-made current.

We were having fun and enjoying lots of laughs. We were just about done and Hayden was enjoying our family. As our adventure rafting trip drew to a close he suggested "one more time". We all agreed and we were off on our final run down the class IV rapid. On our final thrill we decided to "surf". Basically, you raft through the rapid and then turn and head back up the rapid so that the water current is beneath the raft. Very fun. We had done this a few times before.

Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned.....

HORRIFIED…

Just as we turned to go down the river our raft turned on its side and ejected the six of us into the strong class IV current.

I was horrified.

My first thought as I hit the water was, "where is my 11-year-old daughter?" She can swim, but the water was at least 5-6 feet deep plus the height of the current and the man-made current was very strong. You were head over heals in the water. The current would pull you back under. It was so strong that when I went to stand up in the water I was knocked right back down in. If felt as if I didn't have a life vest on. At that point I was terrified for my daughter. Here I was a grown man unable to gain control. I then tried to get up again and when I did.... bam! I was hit in the back of the head by another raft which was coming quickly down the river.

I remember the blow to the back of the head and just how hard it was. It slammed my head/face into either a rock or the bottom of the surface. What I remember most was my teeth getting slammed.

The strange thing was that I remember saying to myself, "this really stinks, but... where is my daughter?" I stood back up and tried to find a way to the side of the river. The current was loud and you couldn't see anything clearly.

FINDING MY FAMILY

I eventually found a raft and jumped in where the guide was sitting at the back. She helped me to the shore where I jumped out. I knew I was cut up pretty good because I remember seeing the horrible look on people's faces.

Our guide Hayden came over to me and told me immediately that he had pulled my daughter out of the water right away. Those were the BEST words I've ever heard in my life. Hayden thankfully was the only one in the raft that was not thrown out.

The adrenaline was flowing and I was happy to have found all 5 of my family member alive and safe. I knew I was cut up but wasn't sure of how severe. I managed to get to the side of the wall. My wife was firing questions at me. Do you have your teeth? Do you feel ok? Can you walk? Are you dizzy?

'I CAN'T LOOK AT HIM!'

Meanwhile, my daughter was in complete shock. She was hysterically shouting, "I can't look at him, I can't look at him!" I was stunned until I later was told by my wife and brother-in-law that as I was trying to reassure her that I was fine, there was blood pouring from my face. It was right out of a horror film (think slo-mo camera here with blood oozing back and forth as I spoke).

My son was the first to see me when I jumped out of the boat and he walked briskly up to and past my wife saying only, "Dad's bleeding a little bit on his face." My wife said he was "white as a ghost" as he walked, frightened and pale in the opposite direction just to get away from the situation.

MY FIRST LOOK

I was instructed to walk up to the main building. It was a pretty good distance away and again the adrenaline was pumping and I was feeling no pain. I headed to the men's room to clean up and assess the situation while they called on medical assistance. When I looked up, I could see why my daughter freaked out. I looked like I just went 15 rounds with Mike Tyson.

I had a deep gash on my left eyebrow; a nice-sized visible gouge on the bridge of my nose; my nose itself was pouring blood; cuts to my cheek and upper lip, my teeth were chipped and killing me while my lower lip and jaw were also cut and bleeding. I was a mess.

The patrons of the center were horrified and people were running from the men's room in disbelief.

OFF TO THE E.R.

The good news I thought to myself? Everyone else miraculously was ok. No one had drowned and everyone was accounted for. My family was shaken, but fine.

So after a quick wash-up that did absolutely no good whatsoever, it was off to the emergency room at the Carolina Medical Center.

After what seemed like a never-ending ride with my brother-in-law and wife, I walked into the emergency room and yelled to the women at the front desk that my wife had finally got fed up with me (joking, of course). The women began laughing rather loudly. My wife at this point was in no mood for my humor. She was more concerned about head and neck injuries rather than the injuries that could be seen. One point I should make was that my helmet was ripped off in the current. My humor continued, I think it was my way of coping with the facial injuries while remembering what I did for work. How was I going to heal for TV? THIS face is how I make my living!

HUMOR FADING FAST

With ice and towels on my face, after a short wait, I was examined briefly in the admissions office and was asked by a nurse what kind of pain I was in on a scale of 1 to 10. I responded 6 and was given a look by my wife, who I think wanted me to say 10 so I could get looked at quicker.

After another wait, I was whisked into the exam room to be checked out. The wonderful doctor had me do a "CT-scan" which showed I had several fractures of my nose. The also began the tedious tasks of cleaning out my wounds and filling in the missing skin on my nose with a super-glue substance. After 3.5 hours of non-stop bleeding, the swelling and reality started to set in. My humor was fading fast.

HIDING OUT

Meanwhile, I was lucky to just be starting my 10-day vacation when I returned to Boston. I sent my wife out each day for the papers and coffee. I hid in my house and did nothing but Fantasy Football drafts. Oh, the shame!

After several days, I saw a specialist about my face and he gave me the "thumbs up". He said (thank goodness) that I would heal just fine. I also saw my dentist, who fixed up and polished my chipped teeth.

And luckily, I am fine. I know I will never go whitewater rafting again, but I am fine. And thankfully, so is my family.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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