Disappearances of women and rivers

[Cm19841]

I am just reading the terrible story about Victoria Taylor and the suggestion she fell into the river Derwent.

There have a been a number of these stories recently. They are all awful. But I can't recall this happening so frequently in the past. Am I wrong? Did this happen and it was less reported? Is it incredibly risky to walk alone by riverbanks, all the more so if you are female? How dangerous is this?

We are near the Thames , every summer if there’s a hot spell there will be a young man drown . So sad and so predictable, our council offer free swimming sessions to teens in the local pools - they aren’t much used

Dd has just started at Swansea Uni and they have been given lots of information about water safety. They all had to sign a thing to say they wouldn’t go swimming on their own.

I live near the Derwent and it’s a horrible river. Because of the way it has been canalised it is fast flowing and has steep banks that would make it difficult or impossible to climb out of for quite a long stretch. If you climbed up on the bank to look at the water you might easily slip. It’s very easy to imagine an accident. The fact that it’s clear from internet speculation about such cases that some people don’t believe accidents still happen kind of suggests that more education about it would be a good idea.

When my nephews were younger the younger one once fell into a freezing canal on a walk and luckily the older one had learned about water safety at scouts and knew to rescue him by stretching out a stick for him to grab hold of.

But the young people who die during hot weather spells generally die from cold water shock as their body goes into shock and they drown. The issue is that these young people can swim so think nothing of jumping straight into cold water instead of letting their bodies acclimatise.

www.durham.gov.uk/dyingtobecool

I live on the coast and sadly there are a number of people voluntarily entering the sea to end their lives. It’s supposedly a gentle way to go.

People have always fallen into/thrown themselves into rivers. I taught for ten years at a university in a city at the mouth of a turbulent river, and we lost students every year -- drunken mishaps, misadventure, suicides. Didn't generally merit much reportage unless the body wasn't retrieved.

I would have thought it was odd until I moved to the seaside near Beach Head. The amount of people ACCIDENTALLY falling off the local cliffs was so epic they were thinking of fencing the entire length off.
I mean how the fuck do you accidentally fall off a cliff?
One bloke fell off running backwards flying a kite in front of his 5 year old son. Others have fallen off taking selfies too close to the edge plus a number of slips and falls.
Us locals didn't go anywhere near the cliff edge because we're not idiots.
Unfortunately a lot of people are.

I also fell into a river 4 years ago now. Got too close to the edge, slipped on some rocks and went into the deepest part of the pool under a small waterfall. It was awful, didn’t know where the surface was, I had a heavy rucksack on and walking gear… and my dh hadn’t even noticed as he was a little further along the path. No splash, couldn’t breathe. Luckily he turned round and seen me surface briefly and pulled me out but I was in a right state.

it really does happen very quickly and if you are in your own, male or female then I’m not surprised people die this way

I live near the Thames, Oxford area. Local media frequently reports people (more often men) going missing then bodies being found a few weeks later, never makes the national news

To be honest, I hear it more about men. There has been such an upsurge in popularity of open water swimming in women, this might be why you are hearing the stories more frequently.

Name changed. My mate was pushed in the river after a night out 5(?ish) years ago. He's ex army and a very strong swimmer. Managed to get out and walk home. Not a million miles from Manchester. Police not interested.

We also live rather protected lives nowadays and a lot of people don't understand just how dangerous water can be, especially if they can swim. They don't see that if you slip and fall into fast moving water, the cold and your clothes filling with water can kill you in a very short space of time.

So people take risks. 'I can swim, I can get myself out if anything goes wrong.' Not always you can't.

I grew up around that area. There’s often undercutting (so you think you are standing on solid cliff but it’s actually only a thin ledge that gives way), grass growing out beyond where the ground is, and just actual cliff falls (the number of people who sit on Birling Gap beach leaning on the cliff - if any rocks fall they will be crushed).

I don’t leave the path, and it terrifies me taking DS 7 up there because he just has no understanding of the dangers (despite being told many times - he “knows” but doesn’t actually grasp what the risk is)

😮
Thanks!

I've just remembered there was a woman in my town a couple of years ago who was pushed into the river by a man she passed on the towpath. It was in the middle of the day and was completely random and unprovoked. He was presumably not a serial killer though as she was walking with her mother and she got out OK. But for a while after that, I was very careful about not getting near to the edge whenever I was walking by the river and passed anyone.

Thank you for the replies. I have found this informative as people share their experience of the dangers of water and how it affects so many. A poster pointed out we probably do underestimate the risks.

I've noticed this! Same with gay men in Manchester and the canals. Something is definitely going on in my opinion

Since social media got a grip on the Nicola Bulley case I think the media are generally more interested as that generated a lot of clicks for them. I know that sounds harsh, but sadly it happens to men and women and usually it doesn't make headlines; in fact many families have to fight to have a light shone on their missing loved one. Even the investigators said they couldn't believe it when NB when nationwide/global as they thought it would be the same as the others, just local news.

You are absolutely right, I’ve really noticed this trend more recently with Nicola bulley, Victoria and gaynor lord and now it looks like 2 sisters have done this too. I can’t imagine how cold and horrible it must be, I feel so bad for them all. We definitely need more kindness today, I’m glad I’m not the only one that has noticed this!

It's just been confirmed that the two bodies were of the two sisters.

Rachel Booth: body found in search for missing jogger in Cheshire

https://www.thetimes.com/article/57fbd3a7-4c1c-4281-809b-69d332f7846a?shareToken=337d6f7fa1f6ec07fae1f9b8d48e41bf

That's so sad

This is so sad. But my thoughts when I heard they were checking a lake, I thought this has happened a few times with women. Then this thread popped up

Yes, very sad. I remembered this thread when I saw the article this morning.

Yes, I replied on this thread last year saying I believe that Nicola Bulley was suffering with peri menopausal depression. This can be severe and deadly.

I'm not surprised that Victoria Taylor had very young children because I believe she was likely suffering with PND.

There's nothing sinister going on, except for the utter failure of the NHS to recognise the dangerous impact hormones can have on progesterone intolerant women.

I recently took part in a study on women who suffer from PMDD and how it affected them during their peri menopause. The results are very sobering. For many us, suicide was never far from our minds.