People Are Sharing Their Stories That No One Quite Believes, And Damn, Some Of These Are Wild

“I almost drowned in a cow dung pit as a five-year-old.”

“Background: My dad wanted to start a dairy and poultry business after his career as an army officer. We had a huge field, with a shallow stream at the far end – away from the house. Us kids loved to play in it. So the layout roughly was: road house, yard, cowshed, cow dung pit, field, stream. This pit was probably 20 or more feet deep and across. It was used for cooking gas. So cow dung was mixed with water and poured into the pit. It was the consistency of cake batter, maybe. But the upper crust was dry because of the sun and air.

On the day, my family was in the yard, and they hired labourers to come and work on the fields. I asked for permission to go along with them and play in the stream as they worked. Mum said yes, and I followed them. A few steps in, and we reached the part of the path beyond the cowshed. But the path had a cut in it (to let water into the field) which was too big for five-year-old me to cross. 

As the labourer girls skipped over it, I asked them for help. I guess they didn’t hear me. I saw them walking ahead and wanted to follow. On one side was the field – too deep down for me. On the other side, I saw the crust layer of the cow dung. Not knowing what it was, I thought I could walk over it and follow the girls. As I took two steps on it, I started sinking. Horrified, I realised what was happening. I sank down to my chest, and my arms held me in place. I called out to my family for help, but they couldn’t hear me because the neighbour was running his tractor.

Eventually, I realised that I needed to save myself. I managed to pull myself out and walk over the rest of the crust – treading very softly and carefully. I had to do all this without putting more pressure on the crust – so every movement was in slow motion and super careful. I knew that one false move would end it all. I couldn’t afford for the crust to crack. Then I went to my family sitting just a few feet away and told them what happened. They went and looked at the spot where I had nearly drowned, and were amazed that I had rescued myself. When I think back, I wonder how I managed that feat and how I remained so calm throughout.”

–Experiments-Lady