I was walking by the riverside with the two boys and my father in law. At one point, the path goes very close to the river, a few inches from the edge. The river is a foot or two below. I had told Jean-Baptiste off before we reached that part because I did not want him to run any more. He was moody, walking a short distance behind us. I stopped to wait for him. I often get paranoid that an accident could happen in these circumstances.
As he joined us, I saw a dad from the school, in his running gear, followed by his daughter on her mountain bike). I thought I’d wait and let them pass our place since they were going quicker than us. I heard the dad warn his daughter about the danger and tell her to get down the bike and push it if she was hesitant. In a split of a second, the girl and the bike were in the water. And the dad jumped quickly to get her out. Fortunately, the water is quite shallow and there is hardly any current. but it looked dark and sinister. I went to help them climb the steep edge.
They were soaking wet but fine, except for the dad’s mobile phone (he looked annoyed that it was now probably definitely broken). They wet quickly home before getting too cold.
Jean-Baptiste understood immediately why I don’t want him to run on that part of the footpath. Maxime found the whole thing funny. Anyway it was a good reminder that accidents happen very quickly, and that we must always be ready.