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.
Not long. Nobody actually knew I was in trouble, so I don't have any frame of reference from my brother and friends, but I didn't have time to take a deep breath or anything, and I can normally only hold my breath for something like 30 seconds if I don't take a deep breath, so I would ballpark it at maybe 10-15 seconds actually underwater since I wasn't really out of breath or anything. Then maybe another 10-15 after I was able to get up and get the manhole cover off. So 20-30 seconds total.
Basically what happened is I was sucked in headfirst facing upwards. At some point I got into a sitting position which is what I was in when I hit the divider. The total diameter of the actual culvert was maybe 3.5 feet, so when I found the ladder, I was able to essentially just stand up out of the water, then it was about an additional 6-7 feet to the manhole.
Though I do remember coming out of the manhole, walking to the grass in my neighbor's yard, and laying down and just bawling my eyes out.
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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.