14 DAY TRIAL // A 39-year-old woman in the UK nearly lost her life when, one night, she got out of bed and sleepwalked all the way into the sea battering the shoreline of the county of Somerset.
The woman, Marie Lord of Weston-super-Mare, says she only woke up and realized she was not in her bed when she swallowed a mouthful of water and felt the taste of sea salt. Being rocked by waves also helped put an end to her slumber.
The woman sleepwalked nearly a mile
In an interview, 39-year-old Marie Lord explained that, to get from her house all the way to the sea for a midnight swim, she sleepwalked nearly a mile.
She journeyed along several streets and even climbed a set of concrete steps that are rather steep and that she ordinarily needs her husband's help to scale. In her sleep, however, the woman proved quite the athlete.
She doesn't know for sure, but the woman believes that she left the comfort of her bed and embarked on her sleepwalking adventure sometime around 1:30 a.m.
“Sometimes, depending on the wind, we can hear the sea from our house. I remember thinking ‘Gosh, it’s ever so clear tonight, it’s like I’m there’ - but obviously I was,” Marie Lord said, as cited by Metro.
Although this wasn't her first sleepwalking quest, the woman says the last time she remembers going through such an incident was when she was about 13 years old.
The woman woke up in a state of panic
Marie Lord admits that, when she at long last woke up and figured out where she was, she panicked and started crying out for help. Luckily, she was heard by a porter at a nearby beach hotel.
The porter, Lee Searle, alerted local authorities and rushed to the woman's rescue. Although she had to be treated for hypothermia, the woman escaped her late night adventure with no serious injuries.
Marie Lord is convinced that, had it not been for 21-year-old Lee Searle, she probably wouldn't have found her way back home and would have died on the beach where he found her.
