Article about what drowning actually looks like

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I just read this article and found it really terrifying. It points out that most people learn what drowning looks like from television and films, which does not realistically depict how people act when drowning. I had absolutely no idea and it is frightening to think that I could so easily have missed the signs.

Hopefully I am unusually ignorant on this topic, but if not please take a minute to read about the signs of drowning. Usually the person drowning makes no noise or hand movements.

On a similar note, I live near the coast, not far from where there was a serious incident last year where 4 people died in a rip tide at a beach. Many people (especially people that don't live near the sea) don't know what a rip tide looks like. They are deceptive looking in that it's a very calm looking area of sea with little or no waves (so a lot of people mistake it for being a calm area to swim in). The force of the current will very quickly pull you out into sea. If you ever get caught in a rip tide, a lot of people instinctively try to swim forward towards the beach, but this is pointless as the currents will be too strong to swim against. You need to move to the side out of the rip tide first, and then swim forward where the currents are weaker.

THIS JUST HAPPENED TO MY THREE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER. I was just about to post on here (but can't work out how to start a thread? Can anyone help?). I was right next to her by the baby pool - she got stuck under a small inflatable and got her legs trapped with her head underneath. I was two feet away watching my son and didn't notice - neither did the lifeguard. Thankfully another mother had seen it - her friend had told her that her daughter nearly got drowned under a small inflatable so she was looking out. PLEASE, PLEASE READ THIS - BEWARE OF SMALL INFLATABLES. I DIDN'T THINK MY DAUGHTER COULD DROWN WITH ME RIGHT THERE - AND IN A BABY POOL IN A GREEK RESORT WITH A LIEFGUARD - BUT IT NEARLY HAPPENED. Going to email mumsnet now to see if they can do a post on it. I will be forever grateful to that other mother who saved her.

I almost drowned when I was about 8 and could swim a bit. At the old Rhyl suncentre. The waves came on and I just couldn't keep my head above water, I had already gone under a few times and was starting to really panic when a woman next to me noticed and pulled me up. If she hadn't seen me I would have been done. Very scary.

Kit Kat- good post. I googled how to escape from a rip tide and you are right. Swim along to the side but not towards the beach, rip tides are caused (from hazy memory) by a sand bank formed underwater, which creates its own mini beach undersea as it were with its waves pulling people back to sea without ever reaching the real beach.

Thank you SO much for raising this issue. I have also emailed Mumsnet HQ and posted on facebook. Luckily my three-year-old is okay but it could have happened even if she could swim. TheSea Priestess I had a similar incident to you when I was seven and could swim - luckily a random man spotted it and pulled me out. Thank god for observant strangers.

Mimi if you want to start a thread, click on the topic heading: AIBU in this case, or whatever other topic you choose from the topic list.
You'll be given options, one of which is 'start a thread in this topic.'

Thanks so much. Have emailed HQ already so hoping they will sort x

www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Rip-Tide

whew, I've become a strong swimmer and my little one is very good in the water but this thread's made me realise I'm overconfident where he is concerned.

Going to be quite a bit more careful now.

mimi so glad that the other mother was so alert .. .

Thanks for sharing this article.

I'm super vigilant near water having lost a friend to drowning in our teens. He was fit, a strong swimmer and he died cooling off in open water on a hot day. Every summer I hear of people dying the same way.