Woman Trapped in Waist-Deep Quicksand at Popular U.S. Beach Proves It’s Not Just an ’80s Urban Myth

It was one of our biggest fears in the 1980s. The urban legend that any time any of us could be walking on grass and suddenly get sucked into the ground by random quicksand.

If you're a child of the 80s you know what I'm talking about. Even if our parents told us that quicksand only exists in the jungles of Africa, we all treaded lightly while playing our backyards or avoiding sandboxes that we used to love.

It happened at a popular, stunning New England beach in Phippsburg, Maine about an hour outside Portland. A summer vacation haven at it's best but maybe not so much for this woman anymore.

According to Boston 25 News, Jamie Acord was enjoying a walk along the water at Popham Beach State Park when suddenly she took a step and immediately sunk down into the sand to her waist.

I would be crying and screaming for sure flashing back to the 80s urban myth thinking OMG it's not a myth and after all these years this is how I'm going to go.

Anyway, Jamie couldn't feel the bottom or get any footing or leverage, but luckily her husband was able to grab her and pull her out quickly.

CAN QUICKSAND KILL YOU?

According to the 'How Things Work' section on the Science website, quicksand is rarely more than a few feet deep and is just supersaturated sand. Unless you go in head-first, you're not going to go under and die.

The resulting sand is a mushy mixture of fine sand and water that can no longer support any weight. If you step into wet quicksand, it won't pull you down but you do need to remain calm.

According to the QuickQuote website, the more you struggle in quicksand the faster you will sink which will just make it more difficult to get out so relaxing allows you to float and then paddle to safety or have someone help you slowly.

Those people that happen to die in quicksand do not typically die from suffocating, but rather from exposure to the elements due to being stranded. Some may drown in quicksand if stuck in a spot near a large body of water, or a rising tide.

WHERE IS QUICKSAND LOCATED IN THE U.S.

Even though we don't hear about it often, it does exist across the country usually formed along rivers, beaches, lakes, near underground springs, and marshes.