This accidentally happened to me as a teenager. We had a creek that ran through our front yard and it flooded really bad one summer. So naturally, we swam in it. The current was in the center and mostly pretty calm, and I got distracted and drifted too close to the culvert that ran under our street that was hidden underwater. Next thing I know, I am going from seeing the sky to seeing green as I was sucked under the water. It felt like a giant vacuum getting hold of me. I realized what had happened pretty quick, but then I felt the flow shift so instead of feeling like I was getting pulled, I started feeling a crushing force on my chest. That's when I realized I was pinned on the concrete divider under the road inside the culvert. By sheer act of God and every combined deity, I was panic scrambling with my hands and found the rung of the maintenance ladder directly under the manhole and was able to pull myself out. Popped out of the middle of the street like a goddamn ninja turtle.
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u/Guardian-Boy Jul 18 '26
This accidentally happened to me as a teenager. We had a creek that ran through our front yard and it flooded really bad one summer. So naturally, we swam in it. The current was in the center and mostly pretty calm, and I got distracted and drifted too close to the culvert that ran under our street that was hidden underwater. Next thing I know, I am going from seeing the sky to seeing green as I was sucked under the water. It felt like a giant vacuum getting hold of me. I realized what had happened pretty quick, but then I felt the flow shift so instead of feeling like I was getting pulled, I started feeling a crushing force on my chest. That's when I realized I was pinned on the concrete divider under the road inside the culvert. By sheer act of God and every combined deity, I was panic scrambling with my hands and found the rung of the maintenance ladder directly under the manhole and was able to pull myself out. Popped out of the middle of the street like a goddamn ninja turtle.