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People Willingly Entering The Water And Drowning

hallybods said:
There's a family story that my Great Grandmother just walked into a canal one night. It is also said that she had a strange attraction to water....
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That's especially weird as you can't walk into a canal in the same way as you could a lake, say, or the sea or a river, because they always have a definite edge and steep sides. You'd be stepping into it.

Many years ago I nearly did just that after walking out of a canalside pub, somewhat refreshed, in the dark and mistaking the water for tarmac. Someone spotted me and grabbed the back of my jacket.
 
escargot said:
In one case they tested the mechanism whereby the deceased had met their fate and concluded that there was not only no foul play, there was no suicidal intent either and the incident had been a practice run for a certain recreational process.
Sadly, it worked too quickly and killed the person.)
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Did it involve a door handle, a belt, a satsuma & a plastic bag?
 
INT21 said:
Ringo,

Did you watch the film 'Margin Call' ?

The scene where the trader is sat on the railing looking down. And says something along the lines off ' It isn't that people are afraid they will fall. It is that they are afraid they will jump'.

Deep, still water also has a similar effect on people.

Often I look a pool, particularly at night, and think 'how nice it would be to slide in and swim across in the Moonlight (Yes, I am a bit romantic) . But I have to remind myself that I can't swim..
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Lightweight :) When I was a stupid teenager (as opposed to a senile oldster) I got dared to swim in the lake half way up Cadair Idris in Wales. Two snags - I can't swim and it was freezing cold. But I won :wcry: I used to do stupid stuff like that. Too much - Oh, you shouldn't do that with your eye - when I was a kid. So I had to.
 
please? pretty please? :D or a PM?
 
OK, here we go. I'm recounting this from my memory of a BMJ article. (It had a photo of the scene, which I wouldn't post even if I could find it.)

A family came home from a shopping trip to find the father dead on the floor in the front room. They called for help and the paramedics came, and in due course a doctor.

The doctor was so intrigued by the circumstances that he called some doctor mates over to have a look.

Here's what had happened:

The man was wearing jeans and a teeshirt. He lay inside a box-shaped structure made of plastic plumbing pipes covered in tough see-through plastic sheeting. A vacuum cleaner was standing nearby with its motor running.

The vacuum cleaner was plugged into an extension, and the vacuum cleaner plug and the extension it was plugged into were inside the box.

A pipe ran from the vacuum cleaner hose to the 'box' and inside it; the air had been sucked out of the box, trapping the man's hand around the plug and preventing him disengaging it.

So he could plug it in from inside the box, but couldn't unplug it.

His other problem was the speed with which the air was removed from the box by the vacuum cleaner. The doctor and his friends made guesses about how long it would take, ranging from a minute to two or three or so. They were all wrong; it worked in seconds. No more than a minute anyway.

When the air was sucked out of the box the plastic sheeting became fitted tightly to the man's body, compressing his chest and asphyxiating him. He couldn't stop the motor and was immediately unconscious and then dead very soon afterwards.

The design was detailed on an internet site which he'd been looking at. He'd built it himself and stowed it in the loft. When the family went out shopping he'd taken in down and assembled it.

Why had he made this box? The idea was to enjoy the feeling of compression, presumably in a sexual way, although as the man was dressed this was probably a rehearsal. He seems to have been killed the first time he tried it out.

The website was named in the article but was soon taken down. Of course I checked right away! No sign.

So there you are. I hope you found it interesting.
 
Mythopoeika said:
That was some vacuum cleaner. Most of them aren't strong enough to create such a powerful vacuum.
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God knows you've looked for one!

Seriously, though, you do get packaging for clothes that are sealed airtight with a vacuum cleaner, so it's not outlandish. I mean, it IS outlandish, but not outwith the realms of possibility.
 
I nearly drowned in September 2012 in Portugal. I was touring on my motorbike, and had been riding up the coast for hours in the blazing sunshine. Late afternoon, and the sea was so inviting, I HAD to stop and take a dip. The beaches were close to deserted at that time of year, so I found a solitary spot where the road was close to the shore, piled off the bike and stumbled towards the water, shedding leathers as I went. There were waves, but nothing spectacular, and I am a fairly strong swimmer. All I had to do was get in up to my thighs and dive into the oncoming surf - easy!

Except it didn't happen that way. I got in, withstood a couple of waves standing up, then struck out to get as far as I could before the next breaker. It turns out that I'm not as powerful or quick a swimmer as I thought, and that next breaker caught me and threw me back towards the beach, tumbling over and over. I hit my head, but didn't panic, all I needed to do was hold my breath and wait for the wave to lose its grip on me, I was only inches deep and would easily bob to the surface.

But, I felt the wave change, into an incredibly strong suction as the water drew back out again, and I was dragged back with it, the sand and gravel, held in a crouch. I managed to get my head upwards and broke the surface, taking a deep breath. Keep calm, keep calm, just get out into the swell, or even back up the beach - just MOVE! I couldn't move though, the suction was keeping me from stretching my legs and kicking out, and there was no way I was getting back onto the beach either. I looked up in time to see a dark wall of water curling over towards me and BAM, I was hit again, tumbling over and over underwater. The cycle repeated itself, but with me being unable to get such a good gulp of air.

The third time, I seemed to be under a lot longer, couldn't discern which way was up, and as the suction dragged me back out along the floor once more, all I could think was "You twat, you are going to end up on one of those 'Hilarious Deaths' vids, because I had just jumped off the bike and left the GoPro running, facing the beach.
I remember accepting my time had come and how pissed off I was to die in such a stupid way, all my own fault. Some lucky fellow would score themselves a nice motorbike with the key in the ignition, and the only clue to my fate would be my stinky leathers found on the beach. Great, just fucking great.

Then, the rythm of the sea missed a beat, the next wave didn't hit me when expected. I got a good breath, got my heels into the sand, pushed back and managed to claw my way out of the danger zone, out of the surf and up the beach.
I was shattered, my head was spinning, and I knew I had come within seconds of death. I had captured everything on film too, and it is the most undramatic, unspectacular footage you can imagine. Just goes to show how mundane death really is for the vast majority, whether it is dying in our sleep, or drowning on a foreign beach. No memorable last words, no brave last stand, just here one minute and gone the next.
 
LordRsmacker said:
I nearly drowned in September 2012 in Portugal. I was touring on my motorbike, and had been riding up the coast for hours in the blazing sunshine. Late afternoon, and the sea was so inviting, I HAD to stop and take a dip. The beaches were close to deserted at that time of year, so I found a solitary spot where the road was close to the shore, piled off the bike and stumbled towards the water, shedding leathers as I went. There were waves, but nothing spectacular, and I am a fairly strong swimmer. All I had to do was get in up to my thighs and dive into the oncoming surf - easy!

Except it didn't happen that way. I got in, withstood a couple of waves standing up, then struck out to get as far as I could before the next breaker. It turns out that I'm not as powerful or quick a swimmer as I thought, and that next breaker caught me and threw me back towards the beach, tumbling over and over. I hit my head, but didn't panic, all I needed to do was hold my breath and wait for the wave to lose its grip on me, I was only inches deep and would easily bob to the surface.

But, I felt the wave change, into an incredibly strong suction as the water drew back out again, and I was dragged back with it, the sand and gravel, held in a crouch. I managed to get my head upwards and broke the surface, taking a deep breath. Keep calm, keep calm, just get out into the swell, or even back up the beach - just MOVE! I couldn't move though, the suction was keeping me from stretching my legs and kicking out, and there was no way I was getting back onto the beach either. I looked up in time to see a dark wall of water curling over towards me and BAM, I was hit again, tumbling over and over underwater. The cycle repeated itself, but with me being unable to get such a good gulp of air.

The third time, I seemed to be under a lot longer, couldn't discern which way was up, and as the suction dragged me back out along the floor once more, all I could think was "You twat, you are going to end up on one of those 'Hilarious Deaths' vids, because I had just jumped off the bike and left the GoPro running, facing the beach.
I remember accepting my time had come and how pissed off I was to die in such a stupid way, all my own fault. Some lucky fellow would score themselves a nice motorbike with the key in the ignition, and the only clue to my fate would be my stinky leathers found on the beach. Great, just fucking great.

Then, the rythm of the sea missed a beat, the next wave didn't hit me when expected. I got a good breath, got my heels into the sand, pushed back and managed to claw my way out of the danger zone, out of the surf and up the beach.
I was shattered, my head was spinning, and I knew I had come within seconds of death. I had captured everything on film too, and it is the most undramatic, unspectacular footage you can imagine. Just goes to show how mundane death really is for the vast majority, whether it is dying in our sleep, or drowning on a foreign beach. No memorable last words, no brave last stand, just here one minute and gone the next.
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Can only say 'You daft bastard'.
 
LordRsmacker said:
I nearly drowned in September 2012 in Portugal. I was touring on my motorbike, and had been riding up the coast for hours in the blazing sunshine. Late afternoon, and the sea was so inviting, I HAD to stop and take a dip. The beaches were close to deserted at that time of year, so I found a solitary spot where the road was close to the shore, piled off the bike and stumbled towards the water, shedding leathers as I went. There were waves, but nothing spectacular, and I am a fairly strong swimmer. All I had to do was get in up to my thighs and dive into the oncoming surf - easy!

Except it didn't happen that way. I got in, withstood a couple of waves standing up, then struck out to get as far as I could before the next breaker. It turns out that I'm not as powerful or quick a swimmer as I thought, and that next breaker caught me and threw me back towards the beach, tumbling over and over. I hit my head, but didn't panic, all I needed to do was hold my breath and wait for the wave to lose its grip on me, I was only inches deep and would easily bob to the surface.

But, I felt the wave change, into an incredibly strong suction as the water drew back out again, and I was dragged back with it, the sand and gravel, held in a crouch. I managed to get my head upwards and broke the surface, taking a deep breath. Keep calm, keep calm, just get out into the swell, or even back up the beach - just MOVE! I couldn't move though, the suction was keeping me from stretching my legs and kicking out, and there was no way I was getting back onto the beach either. I looked up in time to see a dark wall of water curling over towards me and BAM, I was hit again, tumbling over and over underwater. The cycle repeated itself, but with me being unable to get such a good gulp of air.

The third time, I seemed to be under a lot longer, couldn't discern which way was up, and as the suction dragged me back out along the floor once more, all I could think was "You twat, you are going to end up on one of those 'Hilarious Deaths' vids, because I had just jumped off the bike and left the GoPro running, facing the beach.
I remember accepting my time had come and how pissed off I was to die in such a stupid way, all my own fault. Some lucky fellow would score themselves a nice motorbike with the key in the ignition, and the only clue to my fate would be my stinky leathers found on the beach. Great, just fucking great.

Then, the rythm of the sea missed a beat, the next wave didn't hit me when expected. I got a good breath, got my heels into the sand, pushed back and managed to claw my way out of the danger zone, out of the surf and up the beach.
I was shattered, my head was spinning, and I knew I had come within seconds of death. I had captured everything on film too, and it is the most undramatic, unspectacular footage you can imagine. Just goes to show how mundane death really is for the vast majority, whether it is dying in our sleep, or drowning on a foreign beach. No memorable last words, no brave last stand, just here one minute and gone the next.
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Many people have been caught by an undertow. A beach near me has an area that is known for its undertow, and swimming is allowed within several hundred metres of where the undertow is. It has had several drownings over the years.
 
brownmane said:
Many people have been caught by an undertow. A beach near me has an area that is known for its undertow, and swimming is allowed within several hundred metres of where the undertow is. It has had several drownings over the years.
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Reminds me of this awful incident from a few years ago, where five young men drowned off a British beach -

Camber Sands Inquest

The men were seen standing up in the water, waving their arms, apparently playing volleyball when they were actually trying to attract attention because they could feel the current taking them. Two other men had died on the same beach a few weeks before.
 
I remember, even nearly 60 years after the event, being on the beach on the Fylde with my mother, a regular occurrence. We must have walked out on the sands only a little way when I turned round facing the shore and saw that the tide was sweeping rapidly in behind us. I can distinctly recall the feeling of abject terror and remember being scooped up and my mother wading through the water to get us to safety in the freezing cold water. I was lectured not to tell my father as that would have been the end of our beach walks (and it would have been).
 
When I visited my daughter in Oz, she took me down the Great Ocean Road. It was 40 something degrees, and the beaches around Mornington were packed, but when we got a bit further down we'd pass huge expanses of beach that were deserted, despite it being the summer holidays, lots of traffic around etc.

I suggested we stop and swim, and my daughter told me that you don't swim on beaches where there's nobody around because usually there's nobody in the water because they know that there's either a huge undertow, jellyfish or sharks or some other thing that wants you dead.

It's a criminal waste of beach, if you ask me.
 
catseye said:
When I visited my daughter in Oz, she took me down the Great Ocean Road. It was 40 something degrees, and the beaches around Mornington were packed, but when we got a bit further down we'd pass huge expanses of beach that were deserted, despite it being the summer holidays, lots of traffic around etc.

I suggested we stop and swim, and my daughter told me that you don't swim on beaches where there's nobody around because usually there's nobody in the water because they know that there's either a huge undertow, jellyfish or sharks or some other thing that wants you dead.

It's a criminal waste of beach, if you ask me.
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You wouldn't say that if you swam into a box jelly fish.
 
GNC said:
God knows you've looked for one!

Seriously, though, you do get packaging for clothes that are sealed airtight with a vacuum cleaner, so it's not outlandish. I mean, it IS outlandish, but not outwith the realms of possibility.
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Yup, that's what surprised the doctors; not only was the suction strong enough to empty the box of air, it took hardly any time.

We should try building one and see how quickly it works. ;)
 
escargot said:
Yup, that's what surprised the doctors; not only was the suction strong enough to empty the box of air, it took hardly any time.

We should try building one and see how quickly it works. ;)
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Volunteers for testing? Anyone?
 
I got caught in a rip tide in Australia, it was on a crowded Bondai Beach either on Christmas or Boxing Day, I was only maybe 20 feet from shore and only caught in it for a few seconds (though it felt a lot longer), as I made my way out the coast guards were ordering people out of the sea in the vicinity as they had spotted it forming.

This thread subject reminds me of an incident that happened when I was a child. My younger cousin was around 5-6 and I was 11-12, my family were looking after him for the day, he was one of those kids that would play his parents up but would be fine when they weren't there, it was in the afternoon and we stopped at a picnic area near a reservoir. As soon as we got out of the car he made a mad dash towards the water, I sped off the catch him and ended up wrestling to the floor, I recall him looking up at me and telling me with an almost adult seriousness that "I must go to my certain death.", he refused to get up because I was stood over him, my younger sister decided to try to pick up; and hurt him in so doing which made him cry, this seemed to "break the spell" as it were and after his behaviour returned to normal. We had a picnic at the site - the tables were many metres away from the water and nothing more untoward happened.

The only thing only lasted a few minutes but it was almost like I'd stepped into a horror story and he was briefly possessed, I don't know where he got the phrase "I must go to my certain death" from, possibly TV, but it was all very odd. As far as I know he's done nothing remotely similar since, I did bring it up years later when he was still a kid and he didn't remember it at all. Perhaps this was a manifestation of the phenomenon documented in the thread?
 
Ogdred Weary said:
I got caught in a rip tide in Australia, it was on a crowded Bondai Beach either on Christmas or Boxing Day, I was only maybe 20 feet from shore and only caught in it for a few seconds (though it felt a lot longer), as I made my way out the coast guards were ordering people out of the sea in the vicinity as they had spotted it forming.

This thread subject reminds me of an incident that happened when I was a child. My younger cousin was around 5-6 and I was 11-12, my family were looking after him for the day, he was one of those kids that would play his parents up but would be fine when they weren't there, it was in the afternoon and we stopped at a picnic area near a reservoir. As soon as we got out of the car he made a mad dash towards the water, I sped off the catch him and ended up wrestling to the floor, I recall him looking up at me and telling me with an almost adult seriousness that "I must go to my certain death.", he refused to get up because I was stood over him, my younger sister decided to try to pick up; and hurt him in so doing which made him cry, this seemed to "break the spell" as it were and after his behaviour returned to normal. We had a picnic at the site - the tables were many metres away from the water and nothing more untoward happened.

The only thing only lasted a few minutes but it was almost like I'd stepped into a horror story and he was briefly possessed, I don't know where he got the phrase "I must go to my certain death" from, possibly TV, but it was all very odd. As far as I know he's done nothing remotely similar since, I did bring it up years later when he was still a kid and he didn't remember it at all. Perhaps this was a manifestation of the phenomenon documented in the thread?
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That's quite terrifying. I wonder if he'd really have jumped in?
 
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