Lucky to be alive

[FUDGEY]

Lucky to be alive
Today at 6:06pm xe Gee whiz, what a scare I got on Monday. I was up at the kingfisher pool just observing things and I decided to put a perch up beside some reeds also make an opening in the reeds where I could put my hide up the next time I went up. The river was carrying more water than usual so I had to go quite a way down river to get across as I wanted the perch in slack water on the other side. To cut a long story short 15 minutes later I did the job, but my sciatica had kicked in bad by this point and I was not looking forward to walking all the way back. I noticed a narrow fast running part just up stream and I went for a look. It was only about 16 foot wide and I could see it was only knee high deep to about half way across so I slowly waded out. When I was about 8 feet from the other bank it started to get deeper rapidly and once I was up to my waist line I decided not to risk it. The bottom was small pebbles and just as I made the decision to turn back the power of the water just pushed me down stream. It was as if I was on marbles and I couldn't stop. With in a second I was up to my neck then under! Now I can't swim, but I have always said to myself if ever I was to fall in I would attempt to swim as although I have never done it I know in principle how to do it. Now was the time for the crash course. The breast stroke was my choice and thank god it worked. I couldnt swim to the other side as the current was too strong (rapids) so I swam about 15 yards down stream then another 10 yards to the bank once in the pool. What a scare and thank god I didnt panic. I will never risk anything like that again, but on the plus side I am now confident I can swim so I will be going to the local pool to try. I must admit it was one of the scariest experiences I have ever had, especially the point when I went under and tried to swim for the first ever time. It was like slow motion and I can remember thinking if this doesn't work im a goner. A very lucky man and I can now see how stupid decisions can lead to tradgedy all so easily.

[Seren Arian]

Glad to hear you are okay Fudgey. It sounds like you had a lucky escape.

[ron1863]

Lucky you and I'm glad you made it O.K.
I am always careful when wading and always use a stick or my monopod to test the depth of the water in front of me.
It's a really good idea to learn to swim, everyone should nowadays.

[Phoebe]

Oh my! Fudgey you did have a lucky escape, I'm glad the swimming lesson went okay...

[Cheryl]

Oh my goodness!!!! Glad you came out of it OK

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

Now I can't swim ... I will never risk anything like that again, but on the plus side I am now confident I can swim so I will be going to the local pool to try.

Glad you're ok Fudgey. Agree with Ron, there is no reason why everyone nowadays shouldn't learn how to swim - pools are more accessible and there's plenty of adult trainers/adult only swimming lessons/sessions now at affordable prices if you didn't want to go when there's loads of kids splashing and diving around.

It's basically very easy and (like riding a bicycle) something that's never forgotten. It really is one of the truly life saving skills we all one day may be in a situation to call upon at one stage of our life or another. I learnt to swim at the age of 2 because my Mum said much the same and wanted to take us on canal holidays wildlife watching when we were kids. I then became a lead competitive swimmer in my school years and a qualified life saver at the age of 15.

You may well find it helps the sciatica a bit too. Good luck - just remember to breath calmly and relax - I'd recommend practice floating on your back and your front without moving your arms and legs in the shallow end as one excercise you could try and regularly dunking your head right under and practice holding your breath as another - you'll soon gain confidence in the water!

[zan]

wow, I'm glad you're ok! Funnily enough, something very very similar once happened to me... I was out doing a river surveying job and walking down the river channel itself (I'd lost my bag somewhere along the bank) in chest waders, in a bit of the river that was running fairly quickly. Anyway, as it was getting deeper I decided to turn back, and the gravel went like marbles just like you say and I lost my footing and the waders filled up (nor was I wearing a lifejacket...). I didn't go under, as there was a handy tree root nearby, but hauling myself out of a river with full chest waders is not something I would like to do again! Needless to say I got out anyway and tramped off home a bit damper than usual, but it doesn't half give you a fright when something like that happens.

[captaincarot]

you may have realised this but the idea is you learn to swim then go swimming.

it's a good job you weren't wearing waders by the sounds of it too.

glad you've come out of it relatively unscathed

[FUDGEY]

Aptaincarot that's the remarkable thing, I was eating waders. I seem to remember a fishing talk I attended years ago that if you fall in with waders it's not as hard to swim with them on as is commonly thought. Mine were filled to the brim and to be honest it wasn't that difficult.

[zan]

No, I heard the best thing to do if you fill your waders is to float along until you can get to the river bank, rather than struggling to get out of them. It's really hard to get them off because of the pressure in the boots or something, but once you're back to the shallows, it's probably 6 and half a dozen between that and trying to climb a river bank with 20-30kgs of water around your legs!

A lifejacket really is the simplest thing tho, and they're not expensive for an auto-inflate one. I don't do much work on rivers any more, but I don't even think twice about wearing mine when I'm at sea, and would always stick it on if I was going into a river now as well. It's just too easy for things to go wrong, and it's a pretty stupid reason to end up dead imo!