A lesson un-learned: two "influencers" drown after refusing to wear life jackets so not to ruin their tans

I have very little sympathy for either of them, even less so for the one who reportedly didn't know how to swim, when they opted for aesthetics over safety.

Please, everyone, value your safety and life over looking stupid. Safety gear is there to keep you safe. It's been proven through so many previous deaths. Don't become a statistic and just wear the stuff, no matter how "stupid" you think you look, or how it might "ruin your look" or whatever.

Edit: forgot to mention, the boat captain accepting a 6th person and then capsizing was also a preventable accident. So many things went wrong in this situation, and it's clear that there needs to be more safety education.

It's unfortunate that people need to sell their bodies to make a living, and as a consequence, feel the need to go to such extremes to keep it in "peak" condition. I can't imagine losing my job because I got a tan line, since anonymous internet people thought I was ugly and unfollowed me.

Doubly tragic is that belt PFDs exist for this reason. To quote the marketing material:

With 18.9 LBS of buoyancy when inflated, the ‘Minimalist’ namesake means wearing it around your waist without interfering with your SUP strokes...or your tan lines while still keeping you safe.

27 is still young. At least two parents have likely lived to see their child die gasping for air under ten feet of water, pointlessly. It's nearly Christmas, and there will be two empty chairs at the table this year.

The real influencer is the one who wears the life jacket, makes it look good, and influences others to do the same.

Somewhat tangential, a bunch of lifting influencers have died in the last ~12 months because of their abuse of PEDs. Some of them were taking more than Arnold back in the day. The whole influencer thing is really pathetic.

What an awful story. Blaming it on social media is senseless, I could easily see this happening in the later half of the 1900's.

Ah, the vanity of mankind. I watch drone youtubes of boaters going in and out of Haulover Inlet in Florida, a channel that is notorious for wickedly high waves and strong currents. Its also the epitome of people flashing their excess lifestyle by partying on the foredeck of their big or small yachts, or 'bros' in cigarette boats going out for a run with other bros to show off. The universal rule in every video is that its extremely uncool to be seen in a lifejacket. And the 'credit card captains' often dont have great boating skills (which is exactly what makes the videos entertaining).

So its not hard to see the danger coming. The most entertaining, but most injury inducing ones are people sitting in the open bow as the captain, disregarding speed limits and common sense, guns the throttle and powers over a big wave. Of course he's ignoring the fact that after every big wave there's a big trough and his unfortunate passengers find themselves weightless and scrambling for handholds as the boat drops out from underneath them. Then just as they figure this shock was over, the boat leaps up again and smashes them into the seat if they're lucky, or into the railing or floor if they're not, knocking the breath out of them at best, or causing spine fractures at worst.

The party isn't over and if Mr. Throttle hasn't been mindful of his damaged passengers he's still full steam ahead only to hit an even bigger wave to launch his poor friends either into the air, or in some cases, right over the side of the boat. You often seen people going down to the deck but not coming back up as Mr Throttle speeds out of the inlet, hoping like mad that he can outrun the drone and the embarrassment.

Its quite the spectacle. But again, the good part is that NONE of these people would be caught dead wearing a lifejacket. Its just not cool. Im positive vanity has sent more than one to the ER with injuries and some near drownings.

(Here's an excellent example of a captain with far more money than brains absolutely destroying his passengers: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nwNB0aKzJRw)