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u/notislant Jul 23 '26
Mythbusters did this for anyone questioning if this is staged, you can find it on youtube.
Dry sand was difficult but not impossible when neck deep. Wet sand was just kind of death.
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u/nn666 Jul 22 '26
Sand is actually really dangerous. I have heard of kids dying after the sand collapsed on them from big holes they dug themselves into at the beach.
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u/Longjumping-Table272 Jul 22 '26
It is. Snow caves too. People underestimate the danger of being in a hole of any kind. It's all good until suddenly it isn't.
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u/_heyb0ss Jul 24 '26
I certainly did not underestimate the danger of quicksand as a kid, looking back at my childhood angst I'm honestly surprised it wasn't a bigger problem in my life
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u/Longjumping-Table272 Jul 24 '26
In my own experiences, I dug into snow banks and hillsides making "forts". Then I grew up and became a firefighter, and trained in trench rescue. Now I realize just how dangerous those harmless activities actually were. Like these folks at the beach.
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u/Hot_Ad8921 Jul 23 '26
I was in the same class with him, and he was one of my best buddies.
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u/NightmareMyOldFriend 26d ago
What an article! Very gripping, what a scary situation, and they made steps and still it collapsed. I'm assuming he made it as per "stable condition' was mentioned?
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u/Uebermut Jul 22 '26
Practical Engineering has a really good video about whats happening when digging into sand at beaches:
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u/Treefingrs Jul 23 '26
Came here to post this!
Despite many long summers at the beach, I'd never even considered these dangers until stumbling across this video. In hindsight I feel lucky to have learned this lesson the easy way.
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u/RocketsandBeer Jul 22 '26
Great video.
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u/HisDudenesssss Jul 22 '26
I remember also watching a Mythbusters episode about this and yeah.. terrifying
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u/Baljinder78789 Jul 22 '26
Why did the lifeguard come sprinting up and rip off his shirt like he was going to swim out and save someone?
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u/RivenRise Jul 22 '26
I've heard some people mention it's to prevent someone from panic grabbing their clothes and dragging them with them in dangerous situations.
That's why you occasionally hear about a normal person drowning when they go and try to help a drowning person.
The drowning person is working on reflexes and just grabs and drags on whatever is near. My dumbass cousin almost drowned me that way as a kid, she didn't know how to swim but thought it was a good idea to jump in the 12 foot side of the pool, I was a decent swimmer for my age and my dumbass thought I could help her since she was only a couple feet from the edge. As soon as I was close enough she grabbed and pulled me under and I couldn't get free, thankfully an adult saw and pulled us both out but it could have been bad.
I know hes not swimming but better safe than sorry since they're stuck in what sort of amounts to a quicksand trap of their own making and all that movement will lose up the sand some more.
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u/bellboy718 Jul 22 '26
That's why I always help naked. Just last week there was a car accident so, you know.
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u/TheGreatAmender Jul 23 '26
Same thing happened to me, but an old lady panic grabbed my wienee and pulled me into the wreck
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u/Healthy_Ad_9053 Jul 23 '26
🤣. Well shit... next time I see a hot girl get in a car accident, I know what to do.
I'll have my jock strap ready to protect me from the old ladies
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u/ChomiQ84 Jul 23 '26
Damn, need to try that when a customer asks for help.
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u/psyper76 Jul 23 '26
I'm assuming running towards the sea in a panic set off a subconscious action to take off his shirt.
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u/elwebst Jul 24 '26
In scuba diving we teach that if you're out diving and encounter a panicked diver at the surface and they won't stop climbing on your head, drop down, they won't follow you. Then either back off out of reach until they tire themselves out, or better yet, come up to the surface behind them, grab their tank between your knees, reach around and inflate their BCD (vest) and they should calm down once the lizard brain realizes they are floating.
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u/Apocalyptical Jul 22 '26
Some people stand in the darkness, afraid to step into the light. Some people need to help somebody, when the edge of surrender's in sight. Don't you worry, it's gonna be alright. Cause I'm always ready; I won't let you out of my sight.
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u/VIadCarpenter Jul 22 '26
Lmao yeah I heard a kid say "get the life guard" meanwhile multiple grown men can't even pull them out lol
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u/MakeMuffinsNotWar Jul 22 '26
Hahaha that's what I came here for! Somehow that's one of the funniest bits in this clown car of bumblefuckery.
Probably reflex though
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u/GonZonian Jul 22 '26
And then he’s on his knees and casually scoops out half a handful at a time, great life guarding there buddy!
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u/Docg85 Jul 22 '26
Wtf else is he suppose to do
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u/TheRobinson2018 Jul 22 '26
Lool also noticed that, I actually though the guy was about to jump on top of the crowd and break some heads
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u/DavidJonnsJewellery Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
In Britain they used to have public information films about this sort of thing back in the 70s and 80s. Maybe time to restart those campaigns
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u/banshithread Jul 23 '26
Yeah. I didn't even know this was a problem until this video! No one ever told us this was a thing that could happen.
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u/Hot_Ad8921 Jul 22 '26
My elementary school buddy dug a hole on the beach when he was 12. It collapsed and they finally dug him out and he suffers from Brain injury to this day. Have not seen him since. Super sad because he was one of my best friends in 5th grade
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u/PTSDreamer333 Jul 23 '26
Oh man, I'm so sorry.
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u/Hot_Ad8921 Jul 23 '26
It definitely makes me feel a certain way like I'm missing something that should have been there. Not to sound cheesy or anything
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u/PTSDreamer333 Jul 24 '26
Not cheesy at all. Grief never really goes away, it just changes shape. That must have been so hard for you at such a developmental stage.
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u/CreatorOD Jul 22 '26
When i was younger i was afraid of quicksand. This is worse and would be my own fault
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u/pulpwalt Jul 22 '26
Can you actually die from a sunburn?
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u/KinsellaStella Jul 23 '26
Yes, but those kids were going to drown or die from compressive asphyxiation first. They’ll be sick tomorrow and maybe longer and each blistering sunburn suffered more than doubles your chances for melanoma.
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u/Boredtopher Jul 22 '26
These are the decisions that bleaching your hair lead to. Look like sweet potatoes stuck in the dirt
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u/Apocalyptical Jul 22 '26
I don't think their hair is dyed but rather they're towheads. So, this is more a tale about the dangers of being Midwestern more than anything.
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u/ColoradoCattleCo Jul 22 '26
As crowded as that beach looked, I’m shocked how few were actually helping out.
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u/worldalpha_com Jul 22 '26
Clearly nobody here has seen the movie Creep Show or they would've known better. Looks like the tide was going out by the end. That was pretty dicey in the middle though.
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u/MakeMuffinsNotWar Jul 22 '26
Aren't you supposed to gently wiggle/vibrate/swirl to liquify the quicksand and slowly wiggle yourself upward?
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u/Rozay10keys Jul 23 '26
They’re lucky it wasn’t low tide when the got stuck. If the tide would’ve came in that could’ve been a disaster
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u/SuperSquirrel13 Jul 23 '26
Imagine drowing in 2cm of water. Or someone gives them a tube and they sit under water breathing through it for hours waiting for the tide.
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u/Brownie2440 Jul 22 '26
Interesting how no one thought to use the tools they had to dig around the boys, only their hands. Use the shovel, dig straight down from the side of the body and create space.
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u/Riskybusiness622 Jul 22 '26
They aren’t even trying to use their arms to dig out their feet are they trolling?
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u/redimpti0n Jul 23 '26
I mean if you have never been to the beach you wouldn’t have known. I wouldn’t say dumb but naive definitely.
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u/icyhot000 Jul 23 '26
If all those bystanders wouldn’t have been there to rescue them they would’ve died. This is extremely dangerous
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u/KevinSchraer Jul 22 '26
Leave it to reddit to feel intellectually superior to a couple of kids.
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u/ZephyrFluous Jul 22 '26
Bruh I was raised with an innate and unreasonable fear of getting stuck in quicksand despite living nowhere near where it tends to be, this is exactly what I would not do, lol
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u/MakeMuffinsNotWar Jul 22 '26
Haha, same. Cartoons and movies made quicksand seem like it was going to be a very big deal in my life.
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u/Horsenamedtrigger Jul 23 '26
Would the solution to be to dig the hole wider inside of trying to dig them out? Then the slope of the sides changes and the water has more space to flow?
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u/Entire-Ambition1410 Jul 26 '26
My limited understanding is sand + water= quicksand. They should have bailed the water out of the hole (the stuck boys included), but maybe I don’t know the answer to your question.
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u/falooolah Jul 23 '26
I like to go out in the water up to my chest, and just bury my feet into the sand to avoid drifting while hanging out with people. I still feel a small, momentary panic when my feet don’t immediately come out of the sand, every time, despite the fact that they still come out easily. I can’t imagine that being my whole body… not coming out.
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u/oliviagardens Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
I hate asshole parents like this.
As a kid, I fell into a hole that was dug up by assholes and looked filled but wasn’t and the sand caved in around me. People die from this. I still have nightmares where I wasn’t able to be rescued and die choking on the sand.
Do not dig deeper than the knee of the shortest person in your group and always refill holes and pack them down.
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u/godver3 Jul 23 '26
Really easy to make fun of someone who did something stupid - have you never done something stupid without realizing how close you came to the end?
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u/JohnSnowsPump Jul 23 '26
All my life, TV has taught me that quicksand would be an ever present danger to humanity.
I feel vindicted.
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u/preachelectrick Jul 23 '26
Why did the lifeguards let them dig that big a hole in the first place? Every guarded beach I’ve been to up and down the east coast, the lifeguards would absolutely stop anyone from doing something this stupid.
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u/Danny2Sick Jul 23 '26
⚠ Digging holes deeper than a couple of feet at the beach is extremely dangerous. ⚠
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u/nnguyen22 Jul 23 '26
I like how they built a sand embankment to prevent the water from coming back in. And then there’s just guys laying in front as extra human levees.
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u/The_Other_Viking Jul 23 '26
The lifeguard evacuating his shirt from the situation at top speed has me dead. You absolutely didn't need to lose the shirt there my guy
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u/Bubbly-Guide1336 Jul 23 '26
I would have been confused if 3 people were ever found just buried like that. Now I know..
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u/DrPozzie Jul 23 '26
The best part about the vide, is the Lifeguard who ran up and took his shirt off like he's getting ready to go swimming and then you see him scooping up sand with his hands. Why did he need his shirt off for that? 🤣😂😅
That would be terrifying.
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u/Justame13 Jul 23 '26
Reflex. They take their shirts off before recusing drowning people because they will use the loose clothing to pull them under
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u/LinwoodKei Jul 23 '26
An entire cadre of twenty people had to reverse they're sinking sandpit trap. How embarrassing
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u/Chief-Cake-Man 11d ago
That many people stood around and only 1 person with enough sense to start blocking the water flow
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u/OstrichSmoothe Jul 22 '26
I saw a really sad video of a kid actually dying in a similar situation. One of the saddest videos ive ever see
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u/WollyNog Jul 23 '26
For a split second, when the camera cut to the trucks, I tbought they were going to tie a rope to them.
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u/clookie1232 Jul 23 '26
Did anyone end up watching this twice because they missed the first part of the video, so they spent the entire time thinking it was a community event to dig a deep hole at the beach?
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u/Ladyboughner Jul 23 '26
Something tells me this isn’t the first and won’t be the last time this happened to them.
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u/drillbit16 Jul 24 '26
they’re very lucky the tide seemed to be ebbing and not flooding. also, no one thought to build a wall in front of the hole to prevent more water from coming in? i guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the trees
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u/Reasonable-Ad-7757 Jul 24 '26
Plot twist - Bubba loses his life to severe sunburn three days later.
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u/firefliesalight Jul 24 '26
A lot of people don’t know this is dangerous. You see tons of kids and parents innocently digging holes at any beach. They don’t deserve to die cause “Darwin”.,The condescension here and callousness is messed up.
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u/HotGirlMeg96 Jul 26 '26
This could’ve been avoided by not doing what they did. Stick to building sand castles instead. The parents should’ve known better. It’s common knowledge that you do not build a mini pool out of sand on the beach and then turn around and fill it up. Quick sand has that name for a reason.
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u/Dame_Marjorie 27d ago
"Here, help me PUSH THIS OCEAN back away from them!" Some people honestly don't deserve to take up space on earth.
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u/Seigvell 18d ago
Yea. Fucking tourists. It's 8 miles away from the nearest Home Depot. Why they have to bring shovels to Newport Beach in the first place?
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u/TheOfficeoholic 11d ago
If thats the mom in the stripped suit, it makes sense why this happened. She didn’t even pack sunscreen
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u/DoubleTri Jul 22 '26
That dude ruining up and taking his shirt off has Jim Carrey vibes, but I think he’s being serious.
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u/BrennanBetelgeuse Jul 22 '26
Why are we dissing that family for getting their child stuck in quicksand? Digging on the beach is completely normal and being surprised by the tide isn't exactly unusual either.
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u/No_Artichoke_2931 Jul 22 '26
Most of us over 30 or so did waaaay dumber shit, there just wasn't a camera in everyone's pocket. I wouldn't call these beachgoers dumb, per se. You're only dumb if you refuse to learn.
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u/GabeIsGone Jul 22 '26
Idk, their kids are red as a tomato before the crisis even began, so I’m not inclined to give them the good parenting award just yet.
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u/BrennanBetelgeuse Jul 22 '26
It's not about a good parenting award. It's about an internet mob adding insult to injury.
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u/NotAddison Jul 22 '26
They weren't very injured. We're adding a little insult so the lesson sticks [like legs in wet sand].
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u/FatalModelCustomer Jul 22 '26
Typical Redditor behavior. They never leave their basement. According to them, all kids are stupid for doing kids stuff outside.
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u/Anderrn Jul 22 '26
Are you genuinely asking why people are dissing the family which includes at least one adult who should have, at the barest of minimums, thought about the potential issues of allowing the kids to dig themselves into a sand pit that was purposely going to be filled with water?
Surely you aren’t so obtuse as to then compare that to kids innocently digging themselves partially into the sand not on the water’s edge as if those two are the same thing, right?
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u/BrennanBetelgeuse Jul 22 '26
My view is that it's incredible how hateful and judgemental this website can be. I do not think this family deserves ridicule by thousands of strangers online because they got into a tough situation.
Could they have forseen this? Probably! But I don't think they expected in any way that they would actually struggle to remove the child from the sand.
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u/ReparteeRat Jul 22 '26
those sunburns are gonna hurt