Woman swallowed by quicksand while enjoying walk on the beach with husband

By James On Jun 11, 2024

A woman was swallowed by quicksand while enjoying a walk with her husband along a popular beach on the Maine coast.

Jamie Acord was walking along the waterfront of Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg, located in the Portland metropolitan area, earlier this month when she suddenly “fell like a rock.”

She sank to her hips in a split second and let out a stunned scream as the tide began to creep in.

Acord told her husband Patrick, “I can’t get out!”

But within seconds, Patrick came to her rescue and pulled her out of the sandbox. The couple then watched as the hole filled again with sand and disappeared.

Jamie Acord was walking along the waterfront at Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg with her husband Patrick earlier this month when she became tangled in quicksand and suddenly “fell like a rock.” The couple is pictured together on the beach

This photo of Patrick Acord shows his wife, Jamie Acord, at Popham Beach, in Phippsburg, Maine, where she sank hip-deep in quicksand, Saturday, June 1, 2024

Acord took to social media to warn others after her episode on June 1, when she and Patrick were walking on the beach.

She was collecting trash, so her hands were full when within seconds she sank up to her waist in sand.

WHAT IS QUICKSAND?

Quicksand, also called supersaturated sand, can be found all over the world.

The phenomenon occurs when sand behaves like a liquid because it is saturated with water.

Quicksand is often depicted in Hollywood films where actors are trapped in jungle locations.

However, the dramatic portrayal of quicksand in films is not accurate.

People trapped in supersaturated sand do not sink, but float.

This allows them to float and get themselves to safety.

It is also “in principle impossible” to sink into quicksand and die, as depicted in the films, Encyclopedia Britannica reported.

Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica and The Associated Press

“I just fell like a rock,” Acord said WCSH TV. “Patrick said I was there and the next minute I wasn’t there.”

She talked about how she couldn’t “feel the bottom” or “find my footing” as the sand continued to pull her down.

‘I couldn’t feel the ground with my feet. I couldn’t push myself out,” she recalled.

Patrick managed to get her to safety. Apart from a few scratches, Acord was not injured in the incident.

She then changed into her clothes, which she said were covered in “wet cement-like sand,” and decided to share her experiences online as a warning to others.

“State park rangers stated that they have had some reports that the sand looks like quicksand. I fell up to my hips, which is 25 feet,” she warned in her Facebook post.

“Patrick Acord said one minute I was there and the next I wasn’t. I had to let him pull me out. I couldn’t do it alone. My feet are scratched, as are my knees, probably from rocks or sticks in the hole.

“As soon as Patrick pulled me out, the hole disappeared.”

Acord said the situation happened so quickly that she didn’t have time to be afraid, but she worries it would be frightening for someone who was alone, especially a child who may have been traumatized.

‘If I had been a little child, I would have disappeared into the hole. I’m not kidding, they would have been sucked in,” she said, adding that a “kid would be scared.”

She said People magazine that she and her family “go to that beach all the time,” but had never experienced quicksand before.

“It was one of those moments where I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “This is something new that has never happened before.”

Acord decided to share her experiences on Facebook as a warning to other beachgoers

Climate change played a role in the episode at Popham Beach State Park, Maine’s busiest state park beach, officials with the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry said. Pictured is a file photo of beachgoers enjoying low tide at Popham Beach State Park

Quicksand, known as supersaturated sand, can be found worldwide, agriculture officials said.

People trapped in supersaturated sand float — people don’t sink in quicksand — allowing them to float to safety, said Jim Britt, spokesman for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

‘People hear the word quicksand and think of jungle film. The reality with this oversaturated sand is you’re not going to go under,” he said.

In Acord’s case, climate change played a role in the episode at the state’s busiest state park beach, which attracts more than 225,000 visitors annually, Britt said.

A series of winter storms He has diverted a river that flows into the ocean, softening the sand in areas where beachgoers are more likely to walk, necessitating the posting of warning signs by park staff, he said.