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Subscribe to RSSRAWDON, Quebec - A woman drowned after being pulled under the water by a strong current while she was having photos taken in her wedding dress near waterfalls, Quebec police said Friday.
Sgt. Ronald McInnis of the Quebec provincial police said her body was recovered about four hours after she disappeared under the water.
The woman was married on June 9 and was having photos taken in her dress with picturesque Dorwin Falls as a backdrop in Rawdon, north of Montreal.
While she was being photographed with her feet in the water the dress became saturated with water, leaving her unable to stay above water, police said.
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The photographer and an aide tried to rescue her but were unable to because of the weight of the dress, McInnis said.
She slipped under the water and her body was later recovered in a basin about 100 feet away by a diver, he said.
McInnis said family members were at the location Friday evening.
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He said two witnesses had to be hospitalized and treated for shock.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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The dress probably caused the water to slowly wick up the fabric adding weight that she might not have noticed was happening. It doesn't take much square footage for a piece of cloth to have a lot of dragging power in water. Simply having on trousers dramatically reduces my ability to tread water and with how large some of the ball gowns ladies like to get it would have been impossible to try to stay afloat.
EXACTLY what I was saying in a previous comment. The water gradually soaks up the dress, rising and rising. I'm sure without even noticing. Therefor the dress is heavy, current moves it, she loses her footing....
What the hell she doing in the water in the first place???????? Stupid!!!!!
Brides taking pictures in the water is a "new thing" that more and more photographers are doing. Instead of hanging on to the dress to collect dust etc., the brides are rolling in the mud and getting in the water for photos (that look really cool..some of them anyway), but they obviously need to be more careful.
I wonder if the photographer directed her into the water for the photos. Being into photography myself, I know photographers position people for the best shot. There were witnesses, but probably would not be able to hear or know from sounds of the waterfall unless they saw hand movements. Not indicating a blame and still was her actions, but incomplete story makes me question that angle.
You can swim in full clothes!! I had to be able to do that to get certified as a lifeguard. I also had to tread water fully clothed with shoes, socks, top, bottom, panties and bra for 30 minutes. It certainly can be done. But strong undertow can take anyone down. Even an experienced swimmer. Poor woman! I feel so bad for her husband and family.
Yea, ok Larry.
It was a wedding dress, they where above a waterfall...totally different then lifegaurd training.
Sad story. Sad location Dorwin Falls should now be called Darwin Falls.
Standing in swift streams fully clothes is not a smart move.
Another bridezilla goes down.
I think the photographer was buddies with the Husband who got cold feet. Too fishy!
Little late to get cold feet when they'd already been married for two months.
How do two people not stop a third from drowning?
We are all just a heartbeat away from Death. You never know when or where it will come for you, so that being said cherish each day as if it were your last.
That means don't sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff.
This article is poorly written if you search you will find out more she fell in under the weight the dress had picked up and was dragged by the current...two people trying to save her would of had to try and pull her out weight in excess of 500lbs on slippery rock with the current of a WATERFALL pulling her. She didn't stand a chance this is honestly too heartbreaking.
My prayers go out to the family and that poor Husband :-(
UMM what you just said, is exactly what this article said....it's pretty obvious and self explanatory that she slipped under the weight of the dress and dragged by the current....it's just so obvious. I don't understand why people are so confused by this article!!
She was GROOMED to FALLl!
Unfortunately lack of common sense, stupidity and vanity (uncontrolled desire for the best picture) sometimes have consequences like death.
You nailed it!
Although as tragic as it is, it is always a combination of certain circumstances that lead to disasters.
why wasnt this lady wearing a life jacket and a helmet?
Oh yes, what every bride wants, lovely pics in her wedding dress with water falls behind her, while wearing a bright orange lifevest and a helmet! Yes, a life vest might have saved her, but women take "trash the dress" pictures ALL the time and they don't die. Thinking she could drown while taking pics in her dress was probably not something that ever crossed her mind, nor would it cross most people's minds.
It does seem unclear.
Best I can imagine, she was standing in the shallows, perhaps up to her ankles. Behind her was a waterfall and a deeper pool.
The way I envision the scene is that the long train of the dress became saturated with water, and drifted behind her in the pool until forced under by the waterfall. It acted like a sort of sail or parachute and pulled her down into the pool with it.
Thats why Navy Seals do not wear dresses on missions anymore.
As crazy as its sounds, " who is destine to die in the water would never die in the fire, who is destine to die in the fire would never drown in the water".
These Weddings Seem to be Getting Out of Hand! Lately!
I agree with Studio Steve that weddings are getting out of hand lately. I used to be a society page editor, and it still seems everyone wants to copy or out-do the Charles and Diana kind of extravaganza. Working people should remember they are NOT royalty and should not be trying death-defying stunts as this unfortunate bride did. People should concentrate on the true meaning of their relationship pledged for a lifetime and far, far less on the thrills and frills of just one day.
So it would be ok by you if she had done this and died, if she were royalty? How is taking a trash the dress picture out of hand? Why does this bother you? It's very sad and unfortunate that she died, but nothing about it was inherently at the fault of "weddings getting too out of hand". She was a happy newlywed that wanted to get another use out of her dress and it went terribly wrong...she didn't intentionally perform a "death defying stunt", just wanted a few shots in front of beautiful water falls...if I would have had the money I would have loved to have done a trash the dress shoot.
Pictures??
It was a murder plot! Step back a little, a little more, just a little bit more. Gotcha!
Gods plan.
wow..this is a very sad story. But its weird too...like why did they have her in so much water to the point her dress was getting soaked? I think the photographer must be a bit dim or something. And why couldn't they rip the dress off her to save her? I mean come on..it definitely seems like an avoidable death.
It's called a "trash the dress" photo shoot. No dim photographer, these were not her actual wedding photos. How have so many people not heard of this, this has been a trend for several years now. How do you rip off a soaking wet wedding dress while trying to save someone from drowning? They probably had seconds, and I am sure not everyone knows exactly how to respond to a situation like that. Hopefully if you're ever in a life or death moment like this, people don't sit around judging you for what you did or didn't do.
I don't understand why this is so hard for people to understand. Her feet were in the water. Her dress obviously is a long dress, it is getting drenched, the more drenched on the bottom the dress gets, the more of her dress will get drenched. Any kind of material gets much heavier when it is wet than it is dry. Most wedding dresses are heavy enough as it is, plus lots of layers. Have you ever felt how heavy a wet towel can be? So the dress gets wetter and wetter, heavier and heavier. She could have slipped, lost her footing, whatever, and the weight of her dress, plus the current of the water (she is at a WATERFALL). I can completely see how this could happen. It did happen. Let this be a lesson to all the brides that do this "new form of wedding dress photography".
this has got to be one of the sadder stories i have ever read and i've seen alot in 64 yrs.but just when you think you have seen it all something comes along that is just as bad.
You know there are going to be stories of people swearing they've seen her when the spray hits the rocks.....hauntingly scary...indeed a sad ending to what was suppose to be the most beautiful time in her life....wow.
Sorry folks, I laughed! Just the visual imagery of the situation prompted images in my mind of "Nell" on the railroad tracks, bound in rope, waiting for "Dudley Do Right" to come to the rescue. Sorry!!