MARQUETTE — The Cold Water Challenge is a potentially dangerous Facebook trend that has both kids and adults jumping into frozen lakes across the nation.
It begins with someone challenging you. Then you have 24 hours to tape yourself jumping into a freezing cold lake.
“It was so cold, I guess, it’s kind of what you’d expect,” said challenge participant Brody Rosten. “But, at the same time it’s colder than your body can handle.”
As part of the completion, they challenge three of their friends to do the same.
“It started off either you had to do it or donate to charity, but then the charity thing kind of dropped off and now it’s just kind of fun,” said participant Cote Marshall.
This competition is not all fun and games.There are health concerns as well.
“Just being underneath the cold water was kind of weird,” said challenge participant Cody Wetton. “Then when you get out you’re kind of numb for a while but the air feels warm.”
Besides drowning and hypothermia, there are potential other hazards as well.
Jim Carothers- “Also a certain percentage of the population has an underlying cardiac abnormality that they may be aware of, entering cold water quickly could trigger a potentially fatal cardiac rhythm,” said Marquette General Hospital emergency medical physician Jim Carothers.
For those who still wish to partake in the challenge, doctors recommend entering the water slowly to minimize the cold shock.
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