Is it true you can drown in shallow canals because the bottom is slippery enough you cant stand up?
Posted by originalcloneofpomni@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 79 comments
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Comcernedthrowaway@reddit
If drowning didn’t do you in, you’d probably end up dying anyway- likely Weill’s disease or legionnaires disease from the water.
(I’m pretty sure we don’t have leishmaniasis, cholera or typhoid in our canals these days, but given how this decade is going so far- I wouldn’t rule it out completely.)
DrFabulous0@reddit
What a load of bollocks, I've fallen in the canal myself and stood up without issue. The bottom is covered in layers of silt and shite.
IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit
If that was in London i feel extremely sorry for you and you should probably inject tetnis shots into your eyeballs and amputate any limps that touched the water
Fragrant-Attorney-73@reddit
And bodies and trolleys
Ferocious-Muppet@reddit
And dildos...
TelephoneOrnery1394@reddit
Everytime my friend gets a girlfriend, he throws his fleshlight into the canal
aezy01@reddit
And goes to retrieve it every time he splits up?
kipha01@reddit
Maybe they landed on a dildo and couldn't get back up again.
thevolta87@reddit
Or didn't want to
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
Hahahaha
green_white_brown@reddit
Hahahaha
originalcloneofpomni@reddit (OP)
That's what I mean i get you can drown in an inch of water but canals are waist or chest deep if you stand up meaning your head would be well above the water. i tried searching and found a case in china of a woman on her phone who fell into a canal and it was recorded on cctv. can't link it here but search cctv catches woman walking to death because of cellphone addiction. it's eerily similar to the story my mate told me, the woman couldnt swim but the canal she fell into was only chest deep if she stood up. she struggled for several minutes and then drowned.
pburgess22@reddit
Human beings float... You have to be doing something very wrong to drown in chest height water.
MrBlobbu@reddit
I can see it happening with a child or elderly person but not a relatively fit adult.
Effective-Stretch951@reddit
Just swim up init
psychopathic_shark@reddit
Ummm no.... If you have legs you can stand
The craziest story around this was a s136 (sectioned by the police to be taken to a place of safety) a older lady had been out during the world cup. Had an argument with her partner and stormed off drunk and in a rage. She decided to storm home down the local canal path. It was a roasting day and for whatever reason decides to cool off in the canal 🤷🏻♀️ she placed her t-shirt, phone and keys on the side and dipped in. When she wanted to get out she realised she didn't have the strength to pull herself out and so panicked and picked up her phone and called 999. She was stuck in the canal. Police rocked up and decided she had meant to end her life. The conversation between them will never be known. She slept well in the 136 suite and then relayed the story above that actually was very plausible (trust me not many were ) she was due to meet her children at a contact center and couldn't understand why she had been brought into the mental health team. So no if you are savvy and have legs you will be alright
Mr_Bumcrest@reddit
You can drown in a couple of inches if you can't get your face out, hence, don't leave babies alone in the bath.
maceion@reddit
You can drown in 18 inches , say 1/2 metre of water very easily. As a diver I have had experience of finding drowned folk in very shallow pools and streams.
Aceleeds@reddit
This happened to a cousins of mine about ten years ago. Drowned in a couple of feet of water rip Jonny.
Unsoftened_Reality@reddit
It's not that it's slippy. The problem tends to be that when the canal is getting very shallow, it's because of silt deposits. Standing on thick silt is like standing in thick mud that can suck you in. People are normally OK stood up in the canal as it might only be ~4ft deep in places.
The problems arise when they try to get out. It's very difficult to pull your feet out and easy to fall over. Once you fall backwards into the silt...
PennyBunPudding@reddit
You're able to get back up, right... Right?
Unsoftened_Reality@reddit
If you didn't straight panic, didn't put your hands down and had good core strength, the you might theoretically be able to pull yourself back to vertical... not sure I want to go test the theory though.
Hogmaloo25@reddit
Reminds me of the old quick sand fears from the 1990’s. That sounds terrifying!
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
Maybe combined with cold water shock, but without that? I doubt it. You'd be able to float on your back and manoeuvre yourself to the side to at least grab onto something.
Panic and inability to swim might complicate things I suppose.
Short-Shopping3197@reddit
Canals are 3-4 ft deep, you wouldn’t even need to swim.
Key-Seaworthiness227@reddit
The problem is climbing out - the sides are often two feet high.
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
Metres**
?
Key-Seaworthiness227@reddit
I’m thinking about the amount that is out of the water and was born when Brits knew imperial and metric (so assume a lot still do).
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
Ah you mean there's usually another 2 feet of side above the water line?
That's not high... hence my confusion lol
Key-Seaworthiness227@reddit
It is if you’re short and trying to pull yourself out on your own. But canals do differ across the country.
Short-Shopping3197@reddit
Yeah my 5’2” mother fell in a canal once and climbed out easily. I’ve got a narrow boat myself and have never travelled a stretch of canal where someone whose height wasn’t considered a medical disability couldn’t easily climb out. Locks can be deep of course but they have ladders in the side as a safety measure.
FornyHucker22@reddit
I think a British canal is slightly warmer than the arctic sea
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
In which month?
FornyHucker22@reddit
any
Fruitpicker15@reddit
Still cold enough in winter and spring to cause cold shock.
jonpenryn@reddit
One of my Great Uncles fell in the locks at the three locks Tring, it is said, every Saturday night, its deep there but his mates waited to fish him out.
cypherdious@reddit
Yes for someone who panic easily and not know how to swim.
Boating_taxonomist@reddit
There are often a lot of hazards you can’t see (shopping trolleys etc, they’re not always obvious) so it could be easy to injure yourself or get stuck on something. There’s often very thick silt at the bottom too which could be difficult to wade through. Banging your head on the way in is a possibility, many have concrete sides to them. Getting out is often near impossible by yourself when you’re in soaking wet clothes because of the sides. They’re usually ~3-4ft but can be deeper in places depending on the canal and location. So yeah, it’s definitely possible to get into serious difficulty. You definitely want to avoid falling in. I have heard plenty of people’s stories of falling in (lived on a narrowboat for a decade but never fell in myself), and they may not have drowned but it usually involves needing someone else to help you out and not unusual to have ended up with injuries.
FewAnybody2739@reddit
In terms of how slippery it is, the water will support a lot of your weight, and resist some of the slipping.
You could panic I guess, and that's likely if you know you can't swim, but if you can stay calm you'll just end up with Weil's disease.
flavouredicecubes@reddit
People usually get in trouble because of the stuff that's been dumped in the water that you can't see...shopping trolleys being a common one. If your clothes, hair or foot gets caught on something at the bottom, you could be in three feet of water and still drown.
Another reason they tell you not to swim in this water is pollution. A lot of open water in the UK is currently polluted from sewers, so you can get a bacterial infection
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Slippery no. But some canals/lochs have a layer of mud that is thick and you can't get traction. Bit of a false bottom. Hit that problem once wind-surfing and could have been in real issues except for life jacket.
NoMortgage3467@reddit
Face down you can drown in 2 inches of water.
Rubberfootman@reddit
I’ve been in the canal twice, and one thing the bottom _isn’t_ is slippy. It’s all leaves and shopping trolleys and stones.
originalcloneofpomni@reddit (OP)
What's your take on the stories of non intoxicated people drowning in waist deep canals because they couldn't swim? If they stood up the water would be at their waist with their head way above the water. I'm open to the idea even the news lies or gets things wrong sometimes though
mordhoshogh@reddit
The depth of the water isn't a factor on whether you drown or not. You can drown in a few centimetres or stay alive for hours in open ocean.
The main factor in accidental drowning in this country is probably cold water shock. Think of how you gasp if you get startled by anything cold. If you're underwater when that happens your lungs fill with water and you drown incredibly fast.
originalcloneofpomni@reddit (OP)
No normal healthy non intoxicated people are drowning in puddles or paddling pools though. it's the logistics of it all. seems weird you wouldnt just stand up because your head would be well above the water in a canal if you stand up.
feetflatontheground@reddit
. . .but cold water shock. Also they may have injured themselves in the fall.
Naughty-Stepper@reddit
And lest not forget panic response.
Rubberfootman@reddit
It just feels…unlikely. Have you ever encountered a flat surface which was so slippy you absolutely couldn’t stand up?
If the original story was true, perhaps there were more details we don’t have.
originalcloneofpomni@reddit (OP)
I tried looking it up, closest thing I found was a story that was very similar over ten years ago but it took place in a village in China. the woman wasn't intoxicated or unconscious. cctv showed she was distracted on her phone and fell in, and she struggled for minutes. she couldnt swim but the water was only chest deep if she stood up, and she drowned. no idea how true that news story is so taking it with a pinch of salt. was reported by chinese media about the dangers of being addicted to phones.
Neither_Process_7847@reddit
Falling into cold water, the cold water gasp reflex triggers a forced intake of breath, and the water in the lungs is enough to drown...
ResplendentBear@reddit
Drowning in British waterways after alcohol happens frighteningly often, almost always to men. I think if you went into a canal sober, provided you were still conscious you'd be fine for a fair while though.
Key-Seaworthiness227@reddit
People forget how hard it can be to climb out. The walls are high in a lot of places
kipha01@reddit
Yes in that you could get your foot caught on something like a shopping trolley or get badly cut or impaled on by something in the bottom, not necessarily because its "slippery".
Amazing-Visual-2919@reddit
There was that window cleaner who died in his own bucket after falling off his ladder.
You can drown if incapacitated but I can't think how pissed you'd need to be to not stand up in a canal.
Fluid-Let3373@reddit
Many years ago I saw a old lady lose her footing while she was walking past a lock, hit her head as she went in knocking her out. Lucky for her that lock was on the opposite side of a road from a pub, Several of the families outside the pub saw her fall in, and the men were able to dash over and get her out. But she was face down in a inch or two of water. She was just lucky it was a lock just by a pub.
He_ofshadowsandtouch@reddit
No two water systems are the same and it is possible to get stuck in sludge
Icy-Belt-8519@reddit
You can litrally drown in the bath, some canals have deeper parts, some have slippery parts
My son fell in the canal canoeing, he didn't drown, he's fine
Sustainable_Twat@reddit
I do believe they’re quite shallow seeing some of the things I’ve seen in them, so what’s to stop you from just sitting up or standing at the knees?
originalcloneofpomni@reddit (OP)
Exactly what i mean. none of these healthy, non intoxicated person drowns in a shallow canal stories make a lick of sense lol. some of them mention the person didnt know how to swim but you wouldnt even have to in waist deep water, if you stand up the water's gonna be well below your head
bluejackmovedagain@reddit
Lots of older canals are lined with puddle clay (clay mixed with sand). They were intentionally filled while the clay was still wet to avoid it setting, so the bottom will still be slippy and also a bit soft/sticky.
Martipar@reddit
You can drown in 5cm of water. All you need is something to prevent you from standing up such as health problems or slippery conditions and the water to cover your mouth and nose.
Cheeko-chi@reddit
If by some miracle you literally couldn’t stand up then just swim
Duementon@reddit
i have always struggled to see how people drown in bodies of water, i know that lakes often have a lot of hidden things uunder that can trap or cut you but still i am unsure how you drown when the water isnt even 4 foot high
with the sea and tides i totally get it
originalcloneofpomni@reddit (OP)
Yeah that's what i mean. i get you can drown in an inch of water but no normal healthy nonintoxicated person is drowning in puddles or paddling pools. a lot of these canal drowning stories mention the victim not knowing how to swim but in waist deep water you wouldnt even have to swim. standing up the water would be well below your head!
Short-Shopping3197@reddit
If you’re a half decent height you could sit or at least kneel up on the bottom of most of them and have your head out the water. Your mate is mistaken.
NewHorror357@reddit
Swam in the canal all the time as a kid. Absolute bollocks.
Own-Lecture251@reddit
I fell off a boat into a canal when I was about 11 or 12. The water was about neck deep. I lost a shoe that got stuck in the mud at the bottom but other than that, I just swam to the bank and climbed out.
ClericalRogue@reddit
Canal, no, there's sediment at the bottom. Fords can be like that though, super slippery, and in especially wet weather could be just deep enough to be a serious drown risk if you fell.
FornyHucker22@reddit
you are in water, you don’t even need to touch the bottom just swim
imtheorangeycenter@reddit
You'll probably die of sepsis from scraping your knees on rusty bikes doing the breaststroke
Anxious-Salamander49@reddit
You seem like the sort of person who could drown in a puddle
c-e-r-y-s@reddit
Agreeing with these comments, I must add that you can drown in any water, no matter how shallow. If you are taking water into your respiratory system, you are drowning. Whether that be face down in a puddle or the Thames.
bsnimunf@reddit
Most of the time no a canal is full of sludge. He may be referring to some kind of concrete channel with a decent flow of water, those get a thin film of slippy film of algae and can be hard to stand up in.
spoo4brains@reddit
Can confirm, tried to walk on one of those as a kid and slipped over.
Master-Trick2850@reddit
on one hand its possible to drown in shallow waters for a number of reasons
on the other hand I think his reason is bollocks
Same_Seaworthiness74@reddit
Just climb up the nearest shopping trolley or push bike.
Sirlacker@reddit
Yes the bottoms of canals are coated with teflon and banana skins.
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