Anyone who ever gets blasé about water safety should read this article.
Alaskan rivers can be deceptively smooth on the surface, but have swift undertows. And our glacially-fed rivers are only a few degrees above freezing, even in summer.
Lessons:
1) Always wear a PFD.
2) Never give up. Even if you are a young teenager and the only adult and the oldest teen have both died. There is always hope!
Barto [the park ranger] credits Miranda [the 15-year-old] with convincing the other two girls they could survive if they just didn't give up.
"The older girl pushed and pushed,'' he said. "She told them they had to keep swimming and not give up.''
Although it's commonly believed by many in Alaska that if you fall in water as cold as that draining off the Tustumena Glacier into Tustumena Lake you only have minutes to live, that belief is a myth.
As long as people survive the sudden shock of the water, which can cause them to reflexively inhale and drown, they can survive for hours, said Jeff Johnson, the state director of Boating Safety.
PFDs, he added, are vital for surviving those first few seconds or minutes. People have been known to hit the cold water in Alaska, sink out of sight, inhale water, and never come back up. A life jacket, however, will always bring them to the surface and at least give them a chance. The Tustumena accident, he said, underlines the value of PFDs.
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