Wow. That is scary. I am not afraid of the water but I haven’t been to a water park in about 20 years and will never ever go again. I was in an inner tube and somehow fell through so I was lodged in there. I got bounced under and hit my head very hard on the side of the slide. I could have been knocked unconscious. I hope people watch their children as carefully as you were on that day.
I worked as a lifeguard on Lake Michigan for a couple of years.
Faking was pretty easy to spot. The people that were in real trouble always got a really stupid look on their faces - as in “Oh sh$%, I don’t know what to do!”
Reminds me of an incident, many years ago, at one of the popular Florida water parks. My young daughter would jump off a low diving board into the water where I was waiting, treading water. Then she would swim to the side of the pool, get out, and repeat...
Below the board was a huge water bubble...little did I realize how strong the bubbling water was. About the second time she jumped, I was yelling to the lifeguard for help, trying to get her out from the force of the bubbling water surrounding her. I couldn’t get her past the huge bubble into the calm water of the pool.
The lifeguard looked over to us a few times...in spite of my screams for help, never did a thing. Panicked, I knew it was up to me, and I finally gave her one big push, and she was free. Never again did we go back into that pool.