Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The cruel Thames: the job of pulling bodies from a dark, dangerous river

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 46 posts

Re: The cruel Thames: the job of pulling bodies from a dark, dangerous river

#11

Post by closewith »

WilTimSon wrote: post #8
osullish wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Love that season of the Wire. I'm from rural Ireland and there is a body of water near my home that is a suicide hotspot - 2 towns on the same river have given their share of young men to it unfortunately.

There is a rather prevalent belief, perhaps even a subconscious one, among people that suicide by leaping into a body of water is the go-to method. Probably doesn't help that it's been shown in media a lot, probably only below hanging and, perhaps, wrist-slitting. Anecdotally, at least 5 or 6 people that I've spoken to when discussing some grim news regarding events like these had the impression that suicide by water…

I'm a member of a maritime SAR unit and when rescued, people who have deliberately entered the water often say they didn't want to be found by their family or found at all.

Re: The cruel Thames: the job of pulling bodies from a dark, dangerous river

#12

Post by closewith »

jayceedenton wrote: post #9
l3x wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I expect this was too comply with guidance on reporting on suicide [1] > Avoid reporting methods of suicide > Don’t refer to a specific site or location as popular or known for suicides [1] https://www.samaritans.org/about-samaritans/media-guidelines...

These 'top 10 tips' have put us in a strange place re reporting on suicide. The news becomes very cryptic with a lot that's unsaid.

In Ireland, reporting on specific suicide events is almost completely absent as the effect is so dramatic.

Re: The cruel Thames: the job of pulling bodies from a dark, dangerous river

#14

Post by wirrbel »

veunes wrote: post #13

I was surprised to know that you can swim in the Thames. There are a number of designated swimming spots along the Thames, where it is safer to swim. These spots are usually located in areas with calmer water and less boat traffic.

I grew up swimming in our local river. Obviously the river Thames is a different kind of beast with currents, etc.

However I nowadays would be very reluctant for swimming in rivers as soon as one is downstream of a sewer leading into the waters.

Furthermore the river I swam in is downstream of an area that industrially was heavily involved in galvanics. While the water itself is clean, who knows what heavy metals are still in the river bed and mud.

I can only imagine what the mud of the river Thames and its sources contains.

Oh and even in the mountains I remember how - on a hike - a friend contemplated drinking from that clear water stream shooting down the rocks and was glad not to have done that after seeing the poop from geese and cattle just a 100 m upstream.

Amoeba, E. coli etc are not fun.

Re: The cruel Thames: the job of pulling bodies from a dark, dangerous river

#15

Post by DonHopkins »

Prevention is the best policy. Here is a Dutch public service announcement showing some effective solutions to the recurring problem of "micturition syncope", that makes it necessary to pull bodies (usually men, often tourists) out of the dark dangerous canals of Amsterdam, including the "grachtenplastuit" and the "krachtige straal" techniques.

Plassen in de gracht? Doe het doordacht!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMPm3RnRBuk

How many people drown in Amsterdam’s canals?

https://www.dutchamsterdam.nl/2152-amsterdam-canals-drowning...

Re: The cruel Thames: the job of pulling bodies from a dark, dangerous river

#16

Post by jeffwass »

wirrbel wrote: post #14
veunes wrote: post #13

I was surprised to know that you can swim in the Thames. There are a number of designated swimming spots along the Thames, where it is safer to swim. These spots are usually located in areas with calmer water and less boat traffic.

I grew up swimming in our local river. Obviously the river Thames is a different kind of beast with currents, etc. However I nowadays would be very reluctant for swimming in rivers as soon as one is downstream of a sewer leading into the waters. Furthermore the river I swam in is downstream of an area that industrially was heavily involved in galvanics. While the water itself is clean, who knows what heavy metals are…

Regarding drinking from streams, back in the mid-90’s I did a camping/hiking excursion with Outward Bound in the Appalachians of North Carolina.

We sourced all our drinking water from streams, using concentrated iodine to make the water drinkable (I think we had to wait 30 mins for it to take effect).

There was one part of the journey where we ran out of water and couldn’t drink from a nearby small river because it was downstream of a paper processing factory. And we had to go out of our way using old school topographical maps (which we used for all our navigation) to find another water source and hope it was available and flowing.

Re: The cruel Thames: the job of pulling bodies from a dark, dangerous river

#17

Post by AlecSchueler »

closewith wrote: post #12
jayceedenton wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These 'top 10 tips' have put us in a strange place re reporting on suicide. The news becomes very cryptic with a lot that's unsaid.

In Ireland, reporting on specific suicide events is almost completely absent as the effect is so dramatic.

Same with rioting in the north of Ireland. I grew up near a hotspot in Belfast and violence often went unreported to avoid the situation growing worse or spreading to other areas.

Re: The cruel Thames: the job of pulling bodies from a dark, dangerous river

#18

Post by vr46 »

veunes wrote: post #13

I was surprised to know that you can swim in the Thames. There are a number of designated swimming spots along the Thames, where it is safer to swim. These spots are usually located in areas with calmer water and less boat traffic.

Generally, I wouldn't get in the water anywhere after Teddington Lock, because it gets very tidal, very quickly. I grew up and lived in that part of London and sections of Twickenham are regularly flooded, plus cars are regularly swept into the Thames at Richmond despite warnings and it's very quick.

This link covers that whole stretch: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.444296,-0.3255391,15z?entr...

I have ended up in Thames somewhere past London Bridge, I think, forced into wading through the mud to try and dislodge our dinghy that my perennially headlong friend had gotten stuck, and IT WAS NOT FUN, not even Type 2 fun.

At the other end, by Teddington Lock Bridge, kids are always in the water. There is a weir not far, which I regard as a "drowning machine" because it is, but the area is quite agreeable.

Here's the Teddington Lock section: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4306101,-0.3207403,435m/da...

Isleworth Ait, seen here, is frequently so empty of water that one can see the boats keels lying on the bottom:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4684678,-0.3166315,1733m/d...

Street view showing how empty it is in both directions: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4672369,-0.3218927,3a,75y,...

This spot is especially not to be fucked with, as conditions can change quickly and the treated sewage from Mogden Works ends up here. I love the Thames and have never lived more than a short walk from it, but I have a nervous respect for it, plus I am a rubbish swimmer.

Re: The cruel Thames: the job of pulling bodies from a dark, dangerous river

#19

Post by wirrbel »

jeffwass wrote: post #16
wirrbel wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up swimming in our local river. Obviously the river Thames is a different kind of beast with currents, etc. However I nowadays would be very reluctant for swimming in rivers as soon as one is downstream of a sewer leading into the waters. Furthermore the river I swam in is downstream of an area that industrially was heavily involved in galvanics. While the water itself is clean, who knows what heavy metals are…

Regarding drinking from streams, back in the mid-90’s I did a camping/hiking excursion with Outward Bound in the Appalachians of North Carolina. We sourced all our drinking water from streams, using concentrated iodine to make the water drinkable (I think we had to wait 30 mins for it to take effect). There was one part of the journey where we ran out of water and couldn’t drink from a nearby small river because it w…

My comment of course was primarily about the swimming part (you involuntarily swallow some water).

Youtube is full of methods for making water safe on hiking trips / camping etc. Boiling can also be a honking great idea of course.

Re: The cruel Thames: the job of pulling bodies from a dark, dangerous river

#20

Post by klelatti »

> Once someone is reported to be in the water, invariably they must wait for the body to pop up.

Not quite invariably. The river police do rescue people who find themselves in the Thames. A couple of years ago I was walking between Southwark Bridge and Cannon Street Railway Bridge in the early evening when I noticed a group of people pointing towards something bobbing up and down in the middle of the river, in very turbulent conditions. It was someone who had fallen in. The river police arrived less than a minute or so later to rescue him. We walked down to the Bankside riverboat stop where the police dropped him off, conscious, and there was a waiting ambulance. I remember overhearing the police saying he had no idea how he fell in. I’d guess he was very lucky indeed and owed his life to the swift response of the police and whoever reported it.

Post reply on HN