How painful is drowning?

This consumes my thoughts after having lost my nine year old son. He drowned as his grandmother and aunt gossiped and left him and his younger siblings unattended. They had been warned the ice on the frozen pond they were playing on was too thin.
Every day of my life I blame myself for not being there to rescue him, and I know in his last moments of life he had to have called for me. But I wasn't there.
Some, perhaps out of discomfort, come up with some 'cute' answers. I assure you, your insensitivity only deepens my heart and trivializes his death. Please think of this before you write.
To those of you that seek answers with heartfelt caring, I thank you. It shows me there are those out there who have human hearts and care.
But I ask myself this question again and again. How much did my little boy suffer, and why couldn't it have been me and not him.
My son, I've missed you every day and will continue to do so until we are together again. I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you needed me most. My heart shattered that day, and will never fully heal.
Jesus, please keep him in your care, and don't deny those that love him from seeing and loving him again in heaven.
A grieving Dad
Your Dad.

I have read that it is painful.

However, when the head is plunged into icy cold water, the brain shuts down rapidly. Some people have bitten into an ice cream cone and immediately lost their vision (for a while), because the optic nerve got chilled.

So he might have gone unconscious before he started drowning.

My sympathies for your loss.

I have actually heard once from a doctor on tv that when you give up, it's not painful at all.

Drowning is death by suffocation. It doesn't sound like a pleasurable experience and sure sounds very painful to me. Have you ever accidentally swallowed "the wrong way" and choked. Gasping for air, coughing, chest burning. Think of that 100 times worse ... I'd say it is very painful. I hope I never find out!

It's true, how do u really know. U can't exactly ask the person themself. I feel as though it may be a struggle at first, followed by a very peaceful death.

R.I.P brother-i love u

did you ever breathe in a bit of drink or your own saliva? it hurts like hell.

Its most likely like choking on something then you pass out never to breath again.

I've almost drown twice. First time I was canoeing and I got trapped under a bunch of logs. The current was so string that it held me down against the bottom even though I had a life jacket on. I had a very primal instinct to try and get out of the water. It wasn't fear in the sense that you think of it. It was more like an uncontrollable, panicked drive to get out of the water. I somehow ended up out of the water when I grabbed onto the legs of a friend who had partially gottn out already.

The second time I almost drown was actually a breath holding contest. I wanted to see how long I could hold my breath. I was in a shallow pool. I went under and for a little bit there was indeed the pain you normally get when holding your breath. But I was resolved to hold out and I pushed myself to my limit. Suddenly the pain passed and I felt very peaceful. In fact I felt like I could have stayed under forever. Fortunately my logic kicked in and said "dude you are about to pass out". I've also passed out a few times in my life and that was indeed what was happening.

So - from these two personal experiences, I can tell you that drowning is painful and scary at first - but you do get to a point where it's like instant morphine and you are very peaceful, almost hyper alert. That happens right before you pass out.

If I could choose a death, drowning would probably be high up on my list.

I think that if you are struggling and then you stop,maybe you feel relief?Not relief to die but relief that the struggle is over.I have also heard it said that it was peacefull.I think the difficult part would be the giving up.Giving up on life,love and the simple pleasures of life.If you have known someone who has drowned I am sorry for your loss.

what i've always heard is that it is painful up until the point that your lungs are full of water but once they are full of water and you are merely waiting on the lack of oxygen to get to you, it's very peaceful.

I felt i had to add to this page for a couple of reasons...

This does not sound like a "medical question" in the use of language, it could be from a vunerable person.

I would advise people if they are interested in finding out the answer to consult a medical person for their opinion.

I'm sure no one here who add's to these boards would wish to influence a persons choice in taking their own life so please be responsible when subjects such as this arise maybe sometimes it's better to not answer than to add something that someone may interprut wrongly at a time when their mental state is unstable.

And if for any reason you the reader come across this page thinking of suicide in any shape or form, please seek help & talk to someone about your feelings.

This was written by a person who lost a dear friend to suicide.

RIP Neil, rest in peace bud

There have been first hand accounts from people who have drowned and then been revived. They describe a painful struggle to breath followed by a peacefull resignation to death. I guess the answer would be yes.

Share your answer...

umm ive been saved from almost drownings it was very painful i felt like i couldn't breath

I disagree with all the posts that responded with pain. Sir, your son passed out long before anything could have been felt. Lungs do not fill with water. Your throat closes as the body's response to having something forced down the passageway. Mucous clogs up the throat forcing it to close. While all of this was happening your son lost consciousness caused by hypothermia and then because of the lack of oxygen. I feel for your loss and hope this alleviates your worries.
-anonymous.

I too lost my partner of 7 and a half years to drowning. I googled is drowning peaceful and clicked on this page.
I lost him on the 17th of April 2010 and was told by the Dr whom broke the tragic news to me that drowning was the 2nd most peaceful way of dying. Passing in your sleep was 1st.
I wasnt sure about believing him, thought maybe he was making it easier for me because of how upset i was and it always seemed horrible in the movies.
My partner was only 27, and left myself and our beautiful little 2 year old girl behind. He was a big strong fit man. The dr says this wouldnt of helped him, would of made it worse if anything. Muscle weighs more than fat and being he had been pushing weights flat out for the past 3 months when he hit the icey cold water it would of shocked him and most likely got cramp in his muscles from the weights he had been pushing. His mate has explained it as the water wa so cold that after 1 minute of being in there he found it hard to breath and he was aided by an eski that they had put there fishing bait in. He managed to grab a hold of that and stay afloat while he was screaming for help, help arrived but sadly my partner had taken in to much water and was floating face down.
They dragged him out of the water and into the boat they had taken out for the rescue but found no pulse or heartbeat.
After performing CPR on him until the emergency services arrived they managed to get a faint pulse and heart beat back, unfortunately on the way to hospital the paramedics couldnt keep him going.
The dr and nurses continued to work on him, the got his oxygen levels back to a suitable level but after doing a acid test found that he was actually brain dead.
I thank them for trying and letting him go without getting him going being as he would of been brain dead, he was a real man man and would not of wanted to live his life like that.
Finally i dont think reading about if or not it is painful, peaceful or what ever it certainly does not take the hurt and pain away of losing someone like this.
It just helps you understand what happened a little more and we a are grasping for information to ease our minds that they didnt leave this earth in pain.
I do know that he begged for his mate to help him and know that he was so scared of what was happening so i would say yes it would be an awful way to go, as the struggle at the start would be so horrible and knowing what is about to happen wouldnt be a very nice thing.
RIP to all of our loved drowing victims and to the families going through or who have been through what i am going through now i know how you feel and hope with time it will get better for us.
Why stand as one when we can hold our friends and families hands and stand together

It's not painful as i have exspenced it befor when I was at butlins I went on a water slide it was a big slide that went round and round then sundenly there was a drop I dropped iron the water as I fell I landed in thear and I started drowning but as I was drowning I had a thourt in my head and I was thinking I am going to die and I was thinking of mt mum to but then a life guard saved me god bless him I'm 16 and my name is marvin if u have any questions then just tell me on fb my name is marvin penny ok thanks for reading

As a parent I am so deeply saddened by what has happend. I am a father and I have been heartbroken and crying thinking of what has transpired in your life. I wish for you all the strength in the world and know that God is loving and even though you dont know why or how it exactly happened, I hope in his name he let your son leave this earth with peace in his mind and soul. I am so sorry for your loss.

How can anyone really know except the one who drowned...and you can't very well ask them.

Very x100

I guess you could say that the pain would be lethal to endure.

When I was 19 I accidentally drowned. I was under water all the way until I started drowning and until I blacked-out. Lucky I got pulled out by some friends who managed to revive me.

It wasn't ice water so maybe not 100% the same, but there was almost no pain. It was a struggle holding my breath at first, then convulsions until my body decided I had to inhale. The first breath of water kind off stunned me and then I started to cough. Could only cough out but as soon as i tried to inhale my throat locked up. I remember swallowing lots of water involuntarily as every gasp seemed to divert the water to go to my stomach. The feeling was choking more than anything else and it actually got easier after every gasp. Then my lungs didn't seem to cough-up any air anymore and slowly my throat relaxed and I managed to take some small gasps of water, and then larger amounts. Strange thing was the more water I took in the easier it got and it actually felt great in the end. almost like I could breathe underwater. The last thing I noticed was some people diving in to come and help me and I blacked-out. Woke up on land surrounded by people and was coughing a lot. Only ended up with a minor lung infection for a couple of days due to water inhaled. Actually the only pain I had was afterwards as from the intense coughing I think I strained a muscle in my throat.