Jamie Acord and her husband were walking on the beach at Popham Beach State Park when she sunk to her hips in quicksand (Pictures: AP)
A woman was enjoying a walk on the beach with her husband when it became a scene that seemed out of a movie – and not a romance, but rather one of horror.
Jamie Acord was strolling at the edge of the water at Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg, Maine, when she sunk to the hips in a matter of a second.
‘I can’t get out!’ Acrod shouted to her husband.
Her husband quickly pulled her out of the sand, which filled itself in instantly.
Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg is Maine’s most visited state park (Picture: AP)
The couple were left relieved, yet baffled.
‘I couldn’t feel the bottom,’ said Acord. ‘I couldn’t find my footing.’
They found out it was quicksand – but not the kind of quicksand in the movies.
In real life, quicksand is called supersaturated sand and people who fall into it do not sink but rather stay afloat. That allows them to maneuver their way out of the trap, according to Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry spokesman Jim Britt.
How to survive sinking in quicksand
In action movies, quicksand victims get stuck and the more they struggle, the more they sink. They eventually vanish unless they find a vine or branch or something of the like to hold on to.
In reality, people and animals that fall into quicksand usually float and do not sink to the bottom. That is because quicksand is denser than bodies.
‘Quicksand—that is, sand that behaves as a liquid because it is saturated with water—can be a mucky nuisance, but it’s basically impossible to die in the way that is depicted in movies,’ states Britannica.
Those who fall in quicksand are advised to lean back so body weight is distributed over a wider area.
‘Moving won’t cause you to sink. In fact, slow back-and-forth movements can actually let water into the cavity around a trapped limb, loosening the quicksand’s hold,’ states Britannica. ‘Getting out will take a while, though.’
‘People hear the word quicksand they think jungle movie,’ he said. ‘The reality with this supersaturated sand is you’re not going to go under.’
Acord took social media, explaining that she was collecting trash on June 1 and had her hands full when the quicksand got her.
‘Patrick Acord said one minute I was there and the next I was not. I had to have him pull me out I could not do it on my own. My feet are scratched up as are my knees probably from rocks or sticks in the hole,’ she wrote on Facebook.
Jamie Acord shared her story of sinking in quicksand on Facebook (Picture: Facebook/Jamie Acord)
‘No sooner did Patrick pull me out did the hole disappear.’
She added that everything happened so rapidly that she did not have time to be afraid, but that someone alone or ‘a kid would be scared’.
Winter storms rerouted a river spilling into the ocean, which softened sand at Maine’s busiest state park beach. Park staff have erected warning signs for visitors, which number more than 225,000 annually, according to Britt.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
