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I almost drowned once in a public swimming pool. I was kicked in the diaphragm by an inconsiderate swimmer while turning and lost my breath, started the typica

by adwf 10y ago

I almost drowned once in a public swimming pool. I was kicked in the diaphragm by an inconsiderate swimmer while turning and lost my breath, started the typical drowning response. The worst part about it was that I was only a meter or two from the edge of the pool, but for the life of me, I just could not orient myself to move forward and grab it. All my body was capable of was splashing my arms on top of the water and thrashing my legs to bob up and down vertically and get my breath. Thankfully, pools aren't too deep and I eventually managed to regain my senses, drop to the bottom and push off to the wall. I was an older teenager at the time, so maybe I had a few more wits about me than younger kids, but it's surprising how little it takes to drown.

cloudjacker 10y ago
> All my body was capable of was splashing my arms on top of the water and thrashing my legs to bob up and down vertically and get my breath. Yeah but this article is about how drowning doesn't look like that at all
- zyxley 10y ago
  Uh, that's literally exactly how the article describes it. > Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe. > Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment. > Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water: ... Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder. > Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck.

by adwf 10y ago

cloudjacker 10y ago

> All my body was capable of was splashing my arms on top of the water and thrashing my legs to bob up and down vertically and get my breath. Yeah but this article is about how drowning doesn't look like that at all

zyxley 10y ago
Uh, that's literally exactly how the article describes it. > Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe. > Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment. > Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water: ... Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder. > Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck.