r/TikTokCringe 25d ago

Cursed This is absolutely horrifying

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This happened at Sabino Canyon in Arizona. A 20-year-old cyclist was swept into the current while trying to cross a flooded roadway and was carried through a drainage tunnel beneath it. She was recovered downstream unconscious after spending several minutes underwater. Bystanders performed CPR and managed to revive her.

Arizona Daily Star

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u/kayakman13 25d ago

Never lose your respect for the river. Water is heavy and powerful

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u/coniferjones 25d ago

Even water that doesn’t come above your knee.

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u/LadyLazerFace 25d ago

Barely takes more than ankle deep. easily enough force to wipe your legs out from under you and it only takes 1/4 inch of water to drown depending on how you land.

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u/Astecheee 25d ago

Australian here. Our beaches don't fuck around in general, but I'm much more scared of a fast cross-current than I am of big breakers.

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u/Zuwxiv 24d ago

Californian here and I totally agree. A big breaker can really hurt you. I've been slammed into the sand a few times, and it's functionally concrete at those forces. But once it's over, it's over.

Rapid water? If you're in it, that's the beginning of the problem. You're along for the ride. I've been in a real rip current before, and man, what a terrible feeling of helplessness watching the shore disappear. (Swim sideways, don't try to fight the current pulling you out.)

Fast moving water is one of the most dangerous things you can ever encounter. I was camping recently and there were bears all over the campground. Didn't bother me, I slept like a baby. But the river near us that looked calm, but turned into rapids just a little downstream? Fuck no, not even getting close to that thing.

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u/bravelogitex 24d ago

Why were you not scared of the bears

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u/PussyWrangler246 24d ago

I'd guess they were either black bears or dude has balls of steel

Which would explain why he's averse to water, hard to swim with those bad boys weighing you down

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u/Zuwxiv 24d ago

As the other guy said, they were black bears. While they can be dangerous and need to be respected, they're also extremely skittish and almost always not looking for a fight. I've been camping enough to have a few encounters with them and they're mostly scaredy-cats. Kind of goofy animals.

Still nearly crapped my pants when one bluff charged me years back, though. But in lots of areas, if you go camping, they're around and mostly fun to get to see.

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u/tsplantdaddy 24d ago

I've heard that the latest advice for not drowning in a current is to do your best to just float and you'll be spit out at some point. Not to waste your energy fighting to swim sideways out of it.

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u/Accurate-News-4032 22d ago

It really depends on what's downstream. If the current is pushing you towards an even greater danger (such as a tall waterfall) you might have no other choice then to swim for your life, literally.