This doesn't look like fun at all!!

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tiernan
Posts:139
Joined:Tue Jul 03, 2007 6:37 pm
This doesn't look like fun at all!!

Post by tiernan » Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:28 am


christramp
Posts:30
Joined:Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:31 am

Re: This doesn't look like fun at all!!

Post by christramp » Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:13 pm

Jeez - not fun at all. Good reactions by one lad but some spectators there that coulda done much more. Easy to say when your not there I suppose.

caz
Posts:15
Joined:Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:48 am

Re: This doesn't look like fun at all!!

Post by caz » Sun Dec 18, 2011 1:49 pm

This brings back memories of a day I paddled the Soca river in Slovenia. We were paddling the gorge before the slalom section when a group of about four boys zipped past us in their boats, no adults with them, none of them over the age of fourteen or fifteen (which is nothing new there.) As we were paddling along we began to notice a lot of the rafts and paddlers had parked up and people were running along the bank, shouting and climbing on to boulders looking down stream. We decided to get out and see what was going on so grabbing our ropes and first aid kids we headed downstream along the bank.

That's when we saw a massive undercut boulder in the middle of the river, with the kid's boat badly pinned under it. At first we thought it was just the boat, until I saw a limp hand hanging out the side, while a bunch of raft guides were frantically trying to pull him out and keep his head out of the water. My god, I don't know how long he was there but It was obviously a long time, I was certain they were pulling out a body until - relief! - I saw the hand twitch. It took another ten minutes at least until they got him out, unharmed thank god. But it was a scary thing to watch and I hope I never have to see something like that again. Thank god for the raft guides who carried out a top notch rescue, the kids mates wouldn't have been any help and he would have most certainly died.

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