What a terrible end to one young lad’s holiday…
Circulez, y’a rien à voir…
what is the newsworthiness (other than to elicit a sensational response with the reading public) of something that happens repeatedly in that part of France ? I would say that this is unfortunate for the young man and as an old git I might possibly say that it was selfish of him to not think in advance of the burden he now places on his family friends on whom he is now reliant for support, but I’m not going to be that hypocritical…
One might conceivably attempt to justify this as a warning article, yet it still happens every year, as do people falling off and dying on Mont Blanc (o any other objectively dangerous mountain for that matter).
It is well known that the sea in that area is particularly dangerous. The chap was outside of a designated lifeguard surveillance area (according to the article) and had taken it upon himself to dive head first into a wave form, the effects of which are well documented in terms of potential for harm. Much like people drowning when trying to swim against a “baïne” current/riptide.
One might say the same thing of the 28 year old trail runner that slipped and fell to his death attempting to run up Mont Blanc…with no mountaineering gear.
If I basejump from a cliff in Norway, should I expect sympathy if I hit the cliff on the way down, or my chute doesn’t open ?
If I climb a skyscraper barehanded and fall off and splat to the ground, should I again expect sympathy ?
I will willingly admit to having had more than my own fair share of “incidents” as a young man - some of which could no doubt have been avoided had I taken the care to think more carefully about what I was doing first. The fact that I am still here, albeit somewhat battered and bruised and paying for it in my middle years, is probably down to chance. Surfing, rock climbing (and falling off), mountaineering, diving/jumping off cliffs - they are all associated with objective risk. Managing that risk is all about accepting the possibility that you might die and/or get seriously injured in the process - learning what to do to try and mitigate the risk and still have fun is part of the set of life skills and experience one acquires - would I have it any other way ? Certainly not. Am I more cautious now than when I was 25 ? Absolutely, but I still have fun, in my own way - I’m willing to accept that it perhaps isn’t as “out there on the seat of my pants” as it might have been when I was younger, but I do fine with my lesser quantity of adrenaline thank you very much. If I didn’t have a mortgage and a family to support, perhaps I would still be doing those kind of “seemingly dangerous” things - although I’d probably need new body parts too !
Of course, the alternative is to live in a sterilised room with a controlled environment and electrical stimuli programmed by artificial intelligence, or stay at home with a cup of lukewarm tea and the TV remote…
Hi Alex
Any warning that makes just one person stop and think again about this sort of thing… is never a waste of time.
I was moved by the News article and thought it well worth sharing. the lad was a visitor… enjoying himself in the hot weather…
The fact that you felt it to be of no consequence, does not make the warning any less valid.
'Nuff said.
1 Like
We go to these Atlantic beaches, they are very dangerous and tourists have no understanding. The lifegaurds already do an incredible job keeping most people safe but every year there are deaths and major injuries like this one. I nearly drowned myself a few years ago near Bayonne, stay between the flags!
1 Like
Hear what you’re saying, Alex, but I suspect that many on here may not realise what we know to be a year on year problem. Out surfing with mates at a local spot when i used to live in Cornwall, I had to keep hold of “a body” and wait for the lifeboat to pick him up (already dead and beyond help, unfortunately) - same old story, this was a young brummy on holiday who didn’t realise the dangers. Very sad, old news/no news perhaps but a warning to all who aren’t familiar with surf (and water in general) 
1 Like