A woman who leaped into a river to test if her dog would rescue her, only to be swept away, has been found dead.
The unnamed woman, aged 46, was walking with friends near the Hongcheon River in South Korea's Gangwon Province early in the morning of July 1, when she entered the river to see if her dog would come to her aid if she was drowning.
She was then washed downstream by rapid currents.
Police and fire authorities rushed to the scene to help find the missing woman, using helicopters, boats and drones, but unfortunately she was found dead under the Palbong Bridge later that day, around half a mile downstream, local news reported.
Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, the WHO reported and comprises 7 percent of all injury-related deaths. Around 236,000 people are thought to die each year from drowning, 4,000 of which are in the U.S.
Some 90 percent of unintentional drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, with over half being recorded in the western Pacific and South-East Asia.
Drowning can often happen as a result of cold water shock, which happens when the body enters water below around 60 F. Plunging into cold water can cause the body to take an involuntary gasp for breath, which may cause the person to breathe water into their lung. It only takes around half a pint of seawater to enter the lungs for a fully grown adult to start drowning.
The contact of the cold water on the skin causes blood vessels to constrict and close and increases the heart rate, so can even lead to heart attacks in younger and healthier people.
Fast-moving water like the Hongcheon River can also result in a swimmer being pulled under by hidden currents.
Younger people and children tend to be at higher risk of drowning, and men have twice the overall drowning mortality rate compared to women.
The CDC recommends several methods to prevent drowning in yourself and those around you, including learning to swim well, avoiding hyperventilation while in the water, wearing life jackets in the water, learning CPR skills, and keeping an eye out for the conditions of the water and weather nearby.
The police are speaking to the unnamed woman's friends to find out more about what happened.
Do you have a science story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about drowning? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
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Jess Thomson is a Newsweek Science Reporter based in London UK. Her focus is reporting on science, technology and healthcare. ... Read more
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