Woman Clings To Ice With Her Teeth

Status: Undetermined
Ananova, All Headline News, the Mumbai Mirror, and a couple of other highly reputable news sources are reporting a story about a Hungarian woman who fell through the ice while ice skating, and stopped herself from drowning by gripping the edge of the ice with her teeth:

The 29-year-old woman was practicing on Lake Velence when the ice cracked and she fell in. With frostbite setting in and her hands unable to move, the only thing left was to grip the edge with her teeth. After being rescued doctors say her quick thinking saved her life.

This boggles my mind. If it was so cold that she couldn't use her arms, how could she still bite down on the edge of the ice? That would have to be very painful. Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine. But I suppose it could be true, or the story could have been exaggerated and distorted as it made its way its way through the media. I don't know what to believe. The story apparently originally came from the Bilkk newspaper, which I can't find any record of online.

Journalism

Posted on Tue Feb 07, 2006


Comments

Well thats very interesting.

She can't have had sensitive teeth...
Posted by davetolomy  on  Tue Feb 07, 2006  at  11:56 PM
I think if I was cold enough my teeth would have been chattering.
Posted by Sharruma  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  12:08 AM
The fact that it was on Ananova automatically discredits it, as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  02:12 AM
Reputable news sources? Hmmm I think those are in the same catagory as the Loch Ness monster and UFOs. There a lots of fuzzy pictures, but no one can really find one.
Posted by Lonewatchman  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  06:15 AM
It would have made for a much better story if she were skating in an arena.
Posted by AqueousBoy  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  06:32 AM
The line about 'reputable news sources' was meant to be sarcastic.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  09:40 AM
I have ice-skated a lot. Ice strong enough to hold a person has an edge which is too thick to bite.
Posted by LaMa  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  11:25 AM
A major Hungarian television reported this (in Hungarian) http://www.hirado.hu/cikk.php?id=91776
Still I am skeptic about clinging by the teeth.
Posted by b  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  11:29 AM
Here is the Blikk article (also Hungarian)
http://www.blikk.hu/cikk.php?cikk=33188
Blikk is on par with Ananova.
Posted by b  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  11:39 AM
Alex: "The line about 'reputable news sources' was meant to be sarcastic"

Ah..I'm a bit slow...
Posted by davetolomy  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  12:10 PM
LaMa: apparently the ice wasn't strong enough to hold a person.
Posted by Accipiter  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  01:22 PM
Walking around the mall today I saw some posters for the movie Ice Age 2, one of the posters was of the squirel hanging from an ice cliff by his teeth. This clearly answers both the questions about a frozen squirel and salvation via a snowcone.
Posted by Lonewatchman  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  03:45 PM
If it wasn't strong enough to hold her, why would it be strong enough to keep her up by her teeth. Just using my own mouth...I could only bite something flat, for about 1.5 inches worth of space before it ran into the sides of my mouth. Get it? I dunno...

I don't think it happened.
Posted by Maegan  on  Wed Feb 08, 2006  at  06:14 PM
Well, the water would have supported a lot of her weight. All she really would have needed to hold onto the ice for would be to keep her head out of the water. You loose a lot more body heat and develop hypothermia much faster if your head gets wet. Plus there's the whole drowning thing, which people tend to want to avoid.

I don't see why this couldn't have happened. But that doesn't mean that it did happen, and the quality of the news sources reporting on it doesn't really give its credibility a lot of help.
Posted by Accipiter  on  Thu Feb 09, 2006  at  02:11 AM
...Use your teeth to try and hold yourself onto your computer desk. The ice could have been an inch or 5 inches (I've never been in snow, I don't know what it takes to hold a person...but when my mom went ice-fishing she said the water was FEET thick)...If you can hold yourself up by your teeth using your desk (which is actually much easier than cold, wet, slippery ice)...I'd say it COULD have happened. But I don't think it could at all.
Posted by Maegan  on  Thu Feb 09, 2006  at  12:42 PM
Warning: Don't try Maegan's experiment at work, especially if the boss happens to be walking by!
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Thu Feb 09, 2006  at  09:27 PM
I'd be surprised if anyone has a desk that is high enough to hang off of.
Posted by Smerk  on  Thu Feb 09, 2006  at  10:07 PM
If you've ever been skating you know that ice that is deemed thick enough to skate on is VERY VERY thick. The Pond where I skate needs to be able to hold a zamboni. (except the fact that a zamboni fell through the ice on that pond a week ago ...)
Posted by Dracul  on  Fri Feb 10, 2006  at  02:39 PM
My boyfriend, (whose first language is Hungarian) read the original Hungarian article and pointed out that it is possible that the English translation is incorrect, that they may have mistranslated the "clung to life by the skin of her teeth" phrase.
*Shrug*
Just a possibility.
Posted by Jessica  on  Mon Feb 13, 2006  at  10:55 AM
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