Nicola Bulley #10

Toffeebythesea said:

Would it really be possible to just throw yourself into the river though? I thought it was really difficult to purposely "drown".
Also, I hope they aren't basing this purely on her having had anxiety or depression in the past. Many people have suffered at some point but that doesn't mean we'd end our lives.

I still think it was a horrific accident caused from some sort of medical emergency as she approached the water resulting in her falling in.

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I'm sure there are many better experts when it comes to swim safety and I don't claim to be one but I can share this insight as I have taught children to swim.

We run drowning prevention courses where we ask parents to bring their kids in their clothes so we can teach them not to panic.

Most accidents for kids in water happen when they are fully clothed, even wearing a nappy, so layers, shoes/boots and jacket on. Surprisingly, clothes float in the water with you but think about when you intentionally swim, you are wearing some form of swimming costume.

It's the cold water shock that will get you. Your local pool is probably regulated around 29-31°, shock can be in bodies of water at 15° or less.

So we have taught many kids how to stay calm as the your body adjusts to the cold climate (even though the pool is warmer), keep their heads above water by rolling onto their back and control their breathing. Clothes can in some cases actually help you float as they too float in the water (so your swimming ability feels different in jackets and shoes etc.). Most common thing for cold water shock to cause is a heart attack because it raises your blood pressure, or you can gasp and take in lots of water.

Wet clothes make it horrendously difficult to lift yourself out of the water as the clothes are no longer floating, they become heavy and then weigh you down. This is when you would require assistance/rescue.

My fear for Nicola is that she has in fact become unconscious before entering the water - blood clot or dizzy spell.

To hold your breath means you are conscious, if you are unconscious, your lungs fill with water and you sink to the bottom. That's why drowning isn't some big splashing event, it's quiet and eerily calm and lifeguards need to be alert at all times. I have watched many terrifying training videos.

She may also have fell in and was in shock, couldn't call for help (or no one heard her) or even the shock caused her to lose consciousness and she drowned. It doesn't take long at all

Also huge sidebar: please never, ever buy a blue swimming costume for you or your kids, as they are so difficult to be seen at the bottom of a swimming pool. I hope this makes sense and I am in no way a professional but just what little experience I have with swimming lessons and drowning prevention. Breaks my heart seeing all the blues and greens every summer - especially for boys. Stick with reds, oranges and pinks for swimming pools and stay safe.

I sadly feel this is a case of Occam's razor, where the most likely explanation is the simplest one. It's so unsatisfying for her family if they cannot locate her. I do hope I'm wrong.

Also sorry again if this has already been discussed on previous threads.

LennyBriscoe said:

Just watched the press conference, I didn’t have any issue with the way either of the Officers conducted themselves. It clearly needed to be said that the investigation is being hindered by folk contacting the Police with theories/speculation/possibly malice. The Police have always said (they do on the telly, I’ve never witnessed anything irl) that they should be the judge of what’s relevant so I’m assuming they’re referring to folk being deliberately distracting.

Some of the comments on Nicola’s Facebook posts left me feeling sick this morning (I wish I hadn’t looked, I felt grubby) and I’ve seen them on other pages too. I don’t understand doing that but I really really don’t get why you would contact the Police directly with absolutely no basis, knowing someone has to take the call, pass it on and it has to be ruled out. And people say Tattle’s scummy, at least hopefully people are keeping it here and the family would have to seek it out to see what’s written.

There are a lot of folk who are against the Police, with legitimate basis for a lot I’m sure. I would take the Police over shitrag press any day of the week personally! The SIO made it crystal clear she wasn’t going to expand on the specific vulnerabilities and they were asked twice by different journalists, including “I’ve had three texts in 5 minutes asking what the vulnerabilities are so would you not be better to stop speculation?” THEY fuel a lot of the speculation! Absolutely the Police need to be scrutinised and held to account but I’ve read so many articles saying the Police are sub-standard, they should have done this that and the other. I’ve no doubt they’ll go digging, with certain publications probably ramping up offers of money for people to spill what they know about Nicola (I’m looking at you, The Scum)

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I agree completely. It's about time that rag was shut down permanently and we introduced some proper reporting laws for other newspapers. They are like vultures.

Paul’s just changed his fb name to Sam Beckett

Portiapoo said:

Paul’s just changed his fb name to Sam Beckett

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Probably so Peter Andre can't DM him

Portiapoo said:

Paul’s just changed his fb name to Sam Beckett

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I could be wrong but isn't there an option on FB to hide your profile from public or people who aren't friends? As in you can't be searched or found? I could have made this up. But either way, name change or profile hidden, people are going to notice and talk

Portiapoo said:

Paul’s just changed his fb name to Sam Beckett

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Probably something to do with the police being on Nicola's social media today. Don't think it's anything suspicious.

People reading too much into the name change, he’s probably sick of wannabe detectives messaging him and people sending him abuse, people sending him friend requests etc.

I really feel a lot of sadness for her today, and her children.
Poor lady, whatever happened it’s just so tragic.


I remember falling in woodland a couple of years ago, my ankle just gave way ( twisted) and I couldn’t get up. I had to call my partner to come and get me. It could be something as simple as that with Nicola. Who knows.
I hope her family get closure ASAP.

travelbug20 said:

Could the "vulnerabilities" just be the situation she was in at the time e.g. walking by a river? For example, would that be classed as high risk in case she had fallen in, whereas if say she was walking through fields (with no river) that may not as they wouldn't determine it to be as dangerous?

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I thought this originally when they said ‘high risk’ but hadn’t mentioned vulnerability. Alone by a body of water, seems to be a reasonable level of certainty that she not has left the riverside.

Police must be v frustrated to take these steps. As much as the focus will be to find her they will also have to resource/fund it and people calling in and turning up with their own investigations especially if they suspect she has died by suicide and have been trying to protect her privacy and herfamily.

Portiapoo said:

Paul’s just changed his fb name to Sam Beckett

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He's probably done it to protect his privacy and possibly to stop people contacting him/the wider family

I'm surprised it's taken this long for someone to recommend him to do this
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LurkingListening said:

I could be wrong but isn't there an option on FB to hide your profile from public or people who aren't friends? As in you can't be searched or found? I could have made this up. But either way, name change or profile hidden, people are going to notice and talk

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Nicola's page was hidden from Facebook search last night but you could still find it via Google

Wtf - why would he do that ?

samj123 said:

Who is Sam Beckett and why?

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I feel old.

Sam Becket was a character on Quantum Leap a TV series in the 80s.

samj123 said:

Who is Sam Beckett and why?

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Quantum Leap character

It will have taken a lot for him to do that, particularly if he truly believes Nikki is alive and has taken a break for a while.

It will do him good to not be a hotline for the kranks.

Can you imagine the shite he's had in his inbox?

InkHeart said:

This! So many people say "reach out for help", but the reality is, not everyone can be helped by antidepressants and the 6 weeks of counselling you get on the NHS. Many people require years of therapy or other treatments, and many complex medications, neither of which are available on the NHS. And many people don't even get better after these. Mental illness can be very serious and lifelong. I agree people need to make an effort to get better, but if they make every effort and can't get better, they shouldn't be stigmatised.

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Totally. I’m somewhere up north and I know some or our MH services have at least a 1 and a half year wait. People can go seek help and be palmed off, signposted incorrectly, sent away with solutions that aren’t appropriate, medicated when they shouldn’t be, not medicated with they should be. MH has been on its knees since covid. ( in my area)

Even on a personal level, I haven’t been able to get through to my own doctors for months. Apparently the thing to do is to turn up there and beg. I gave up one morning after ringing over a 100 times.

LizSmithqwerty said:

I wish that (Paul and the) “others” had perhaps felt more comfortable regarding mental health (and made this clear from the beginning) because mental health is nothing to be ashamed of.
Much love tattlers because we don’t half get a bashing at times but this thread has been one of the nicest places these last few weeks xx

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I can’t agree with this more.

I was ‘outed’ as a tattler to an influencer (I use that word loosely) but it wasn’t being a tattler that I was ashamed of. Far from it, because there’s nothing I’ve posted on this site that I wouldn’t say out loud.

It was the using of things I’d shared about my mental health that felt so intrusive.
I felt ashamed that people ‘in the real world’ might come to know what I’d written in these pages during my dark times.

Within this thread, over the past weeks, I and others have shared parts of our experience of mental illness, trauma, and more, and it’s never been met with anything other than kindness.

That doesn’t happen often. This is a rare gem.
It’s awful, awful circumstances but I’m proud to be a tattler.

Still catching up today but the overwhelming feeling I get is that every time 'vulnerability' is mentioned these days, folk assume MH.

It can be anything, there could be absolutely any explanation, from she's bloody epileptic OR she really is actually an ex undercover Police Officer been relocated with a new identity (mentioned in early threads,no idea of any truth in it at all) and anything in between. She could be an ex military person with a false leg, that'd be a damn 'specific vulnerabilty' who knows. Nobody knows.

A 'specific vulnerabilty' would also be if she'd ever escaped from a previous abusive partner & been relocated by Police and Women's Aid, what if she'd been located by wronguns by making her FB profile public, by accident, as we now know she did?

It's already been said she was on NO medication - that could either mean she was a healthy fit woman, or she'd recently come off something, again anything in between.

I'm just sick of the MH narrative, when there's NOTHING to say she suffered any MH at all. Until they actually say 'she was known to suffer from MH issues' then there is no reason to assume that.

I am pleased though that what comes from this in people discussing this stuff on here that support is offered to anyone struggling with MH issues at the moment

DellaC said:

I feel old.

Sam Becket was a character on Quantum Leap a TV series in the 80s.

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"Right Paul, pick a name that is just bog standard and make sure it has no possibility of becoming a time travelling conspiracy"

I will do the new thread, if it gets to 1,000 give me a little while.
Just doing dinner for littlest and then will be able to concentrate on it x

Pulltheotherone said:

Wtf - why would he do that ?

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Presumably because of all sad weirdos sending him abuse and psychic messages.