One of the most terrifying things I've seen recently:

[unsinkable]

Two women letting a handful of children play in the water on the edge the Niagara River off of Three Sisters island. They were a few feet from the rapids and a few hundred yards from the precipice of the Falls. Had one slipped and fallen into the rapids, she would have been dead (swept over the Falls) in seconds.

They were in their bathing suits and were eating food as they played in the water . One kid was holding a bag of cheetos while she jumped from stone to stone. 

There are signs everywhere that forbid swimming and climbing over the railings.

Fortunately, the police came within seconds of when I first saw them. It literally took my breath away when I saw them and I was trying to catch enough air to yell, "Get out of there!"

I still feel shaky when I think about it.

[Catwoman]

That must have been so scary to see! Thank goodness the police came before something horrible happened!

 

[unsinkable]

1 minute ago, Catwoman said:

That must have been so scary to see! Thank goodness the police came before something horrible happened!

 

Oh, it was quite a trip!

[Tangerine]

That would populate my nightmares for the rest of my life. 

[wintermom]

That's insane! I hope the adults get a record for this with CPS and a huge fine. 

[unsinkable]

1 minute ago, wintermom said:

That's insane! I hope the adults get a record for this with CPS and a huge fine. 

I don't know what happened, bc I left bc I didn't want to stare bc of the kids. They didn't know any better, KWIM?

 

[4everHis]

My heart 'stumbled' just reading this?

[Borstahusen]

That is scary! I lived in Buffalo/Tonawanda for years and my husband is from Grand Island, so I KNOW how dangerous the Falls are. I’ve tubed in the Niagara River from Tonawanda, under the GI bridge, and the current is so strong, even that far back. 

POSSIBLE SUICIDE TRIGGER AHEAD.....

 

 

 

 

 

Visitors don't understand when people commit suicide, they don’t jump “over the falls” they jump in the rapids. 

[unsinkable]

10 minutes ago, BlueGables said:

My heart 'stumbled' just reading this?

I know...I told my husband I was throwing PVCs.

[unsinkable]

If anyone hasn't been to NF, you can Google Niagara Falls state park map and look. You can even do street view and see the trees and water.

It was the outermost island of the 3 sisters. Look for Goat Island, then move west.

Edited August 9, 2018 by unsinkable

[ashfern]

The stupidity of some people amazes me.

[Heatherwith4]

I am a ball of nerves just reading this thread.  Yikes! 

[unsinkable]

I guess I shouldn't talk about all the people who hold their babies and toddlers on the railings...

 

[Tangerine]

5 minutes ago, unsinkable said:

I guess I shouldn't talk about all the people who hold their babies and toddlers on the railings...

 

Wow. Let’s hit all my buttons. I transfer babies to the safe side just going down the stairs. 

[unsinkable]

1 minute ago, Tangerine said:

Wow. Let’s hit all my buttons. I transfer babies to the safe side just going down the stairs. 

I'm sorry.

I LOVE NF but this trip was stressful. That's why I like to go in winter. No on is there to terrify me.

[Tangerine]

I've got issues with water, falling off the edges of things, and come to think of it bridges and boats and I maybe should nevereverever go to Niagara.

[hjffkj]

That is horrifying. The most terrifying thing I've ever seen was a woman holding a newborn in the ocean just where the waves were crashing.  The woman was facing the shore so couldn't even see the waves coming.  One crashed right on top of her and she dropped the baby.  I was out of my chair and at her feet almost instantly, as were dozens of other people essentially waiting for it to happen. Many people told her not to do it but she just thought they were being busybodies.  Thankfully, the baby fell directly in front of her and the current pushed the baby into her legs so she instantly knew where the baby was.  I have a hard time going to the ocean now with my kids simply out of fear for seeing that type of stupidity again.

 

[goldberry]

People always think nothing will ever happen *to them*.  I would have had to leave or probably threw up from stress. 

[livetoread]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

That is horrifying. The most terrifying thing I've ever seen was a woman holding a newborn in the ocean just where the waves were crashing.  The woman was facing the shore so couldn't even see the waves coming.  One crashed right on top of her and she dropped the baby.  I was out of my chair and at her feet almost instantly, as were dozens of other people essentially waiting for it to happen. Many people told her not to do it but she just thought they were being busybodies.  Thankfully, the baby fell directly in front of her and the current pushed the baby into her legs so she instantly knew where the baby was.  I have a hard time going to the ocean now with my kids simply out of fear for seeing that type of stupidity again.

 

I saw something similar. We were at the ocean staying in an oceanfront condo. The surf was pretty high, and a lot of people had come out to watch and play in it. There was a kid about three or four playing back a little from the surf while the rest of the family was playing in the waves. Every once in awhile there was a big wave and the surf would come almost up to the kid, or even slightly around him. I was in the condo watching horrified just waiting for him to be caught and taken out. Finally it happened, but he was carried near enough someone that they grabbed him as he went by. Then everyone went back to what they were doing, and I had to quit watching.

[Tanaqui]

Those children are lucky. I hope their parents are a little more sensible now. (Probably not.)

[gardenmom5]

some people have zero common sense. or even awareness.  I'm glad nothing bad happened.

[gardenmom5]

3 hours ago, Tangerine said:

Wow. Let’s hit all my buttons. I transfer babies to the safe side just going down the stairs. 

I had balance issues and slipped on the stairs.  2ds wouldn't allow me to carry the baby downstairs - and he was 12.

[marbel]

I haven't been to the Falls in over 40 years but that still made my heart leap.  I loved the place - we lived near Buffalo and visited often - but oh so scary..  

[Mothersweets]

Holy smokes, that's terrifying! ? It's astonishing to me that those people wouldn't have seen the danger. 

[sassenach]

We had a similar experience at vernal falls in Yosemite. We saw people climbing over to take pictures, including with babies. The next day, another group did the same thing and 3 people went over the falls to their deaths. 

[Bluegoat]

6 hours ago, hjffkj said:

That is horrifying. The most terrifying thing I've ever seen was a woman holding a newborn in the ocean just where the waves were crashing.  The woman was facing the shore so couldn't even see the waves coming.  One crashed right on top of her and she dropped the baby.  I was out of my chair and at her feet almost instantly, as were dozens of other people essentially waiting for it to happen. Many people told her not to do it but she just thought they were being busybodies.  Thankfully, the baby fell directly in front of her and the current pushed the baby into her legs so she instantly knew where the baby was.  I have a hard time going to the ocean now with my kids simply out of fear for seeing that type of stupidity again.

 

 

There is a popular tourist spot here where the ocean crashes up on rocks.  There are all kinds of signs telling people not to walk where the rocks are wet, or on certain days they have signs up to tell people to stay well away.

Every second year some person gets swept out to sea.

[ealp2009]

7 hours ago, Tangerine said:

Wow. Let’s hit all my buttons. I transfer babies to the safe side just going down the stairs. 

Which side is the safe side?   Thanks

[Liz CA]

8 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

It honestly never would occur to me to not hold a baby while walking along the shore or wading in the ocean.  Is this an area known for strong waves or tides or was she out above her waist or something?

 

All depends where. Around here, riptides can take you down even if you just stand in water that is barely knee deep.

[sweet2ndchance]

1 hour ago, Liz CA said:

 

All depends where. Around here, riptides can take you down even if you just stand in water that is barely knee deep.

This.

There can be coves where the waves are never more than gentle laps and then there are beaches where rogue waves come out of no where. Especially when tides are changing. Adults who have lived near the sea all their lives can still be taken off guard by an unpredictable wave.

A newborn at the beach seems like a bad idea altogether to me but my skin is so fair that I can sunburn under a huge umbrella while applying SPF60 every hour. It would never occur to me to take a newborn to the beach much less in the water.

On a different note, my then-12 year old daughter was swept down a local river by a rapid after I had told her and her brother repeatedly to stay away from the rapids at the far end of the natural pool we were all playing in. Luckily the falls in the rapid was only a few feet and she caught herself on a large rock. I dove in after her and got her back to shore. Her reply when I got her to shore and asked her why she went near the rapids, 'The water looked calm on top, I didn't think I was near enough to get pulled under..." Ugh! Fortunately she wasn't hurt, just shaken up, but we had a long talk about undertow and currents on the way home and why you don't judge flowing water by what it looks like on top.

[DawnM]

That is so scary!

[Ottakee]

This happened near me last week.  Two died, 5 others had to be rescued.   Yet, just a few days later with red flags flying small children were out in the water.

https://www.insideedition.com/massive-human-chain-tries-rescue-swimmers-caught-lake-michigan-rip-current-45717

[hjffkj]

7 hours ago, Arctic Mama said:

It honestly never would occur to me to not hold a baby while walking along the shore or wading in the ocean.  Is this an area known for strong waves or tides or was she out above her waist or something?

 

Oh I do both of those things as well.  She was literally standing where waves were crashing between waist and shoulder level. 

[Tangerine]

9 hours ago, ealp2009 said:

Which side is the safe side?   Thanks

If there is a railing side and a wall side, it’s the wall side. If there are railings on both sides it’s on the inside, as far from the railing on the baby’s side as possible.