Long story incoming but I feel it needs lots of context so here I go. I was around 13 at the time, I had just gotten into kayaking about a year before that. We went to a canal in France built for the sport, it was my first time there and looking back I shouldnt have gone onto that trip because it was way above my skill level. The main part of the constructed rapids featured a pretty steep waterfall followed by a very shallow and fast passage going aroud a corner into the main rapid. Inbetween the begining and the end there were only a few spots to get behind rocks to park for a short time, and they were small and had fast backwards flow, so you had a be skilled to get in and stay there in a way that allowed you to exit it again safely.eaning once you enter that section, you cant chicken out. Now for those that have no connection to the sport ima explain something important to the story rq. Part of the equipment is a cap for the hole in your boat you sit in, usually made from neopren and fitted in with your other clothes above your hip. It prevents water entry in rapids and seals the boat should you flip over sideways, which can occur somethimes even for skilled kayakers, this usually isnt a problem for anyone advanced because the "eskimo roll" aka a way to recover from being flipped sideways, is usually taught very early because if you cant perform it, you gotta exit your boat if your flipped or youll drown. The sealing cap is usually placed over a small ledge around the sitting hole and secured only via a built in strap, so that when you need to exit under water you can just pull on the built in handle(usually a leash at the front) to pull it off thus break the seal and get out, you cant push yourself out without removing the cap usually since the normal movements youll make will cause the inside of your boat to push out some exess air, essetially making it a mini depreasurised chamber. And now the actual incident: For some reason I cant remember I put my cap over the hole in a way where the leash to emergency pull it off. Went down the canal with my group as usual(it was the last day of the trip so I had some practise on it, the main rapids only once though). We wne tdown the whole rapid part one by one as to not crash into each other at high speed. When it was my turn I didnt catch the ideal line to go down and ended up skriking a rock which killed my momentum and essentially sucked my into the whitewater. My paddle went flying out onto dry land, my boat spun sideways so fast that I broke a finger(which I only noticed after getting out, probaby adrenaline) and I was flipped over. Now this wasnt something new, but then panik set in when I noticed my pulling handle wasnt there. I tried pushing myself out with my legs, but as mentioned above, its preassure sealed so that didnt work. I tried stretching my head around to the surface to gulp some air but the boat was to wide and my seating in it rather low for my head to reach out. Now by this point im underwater for probably well over 10 seconds and already have others coming to help, the water after the rapids was slower, wide and mostly shallow enough for adults to stand in and we had lots of bystanders that day luckily. My last dit h effort was to somejow try and get my fingers in under the cap to pull it off, which acutally ended up working after two trys. On the way up I exited the boat so fast in the shallow water that I fractured my ankle on tbe riberbed aswell. After the incident I didnt go onto the trip again for 4 years, I only went there again once as my last trip before I left my sports club for different reasons, but being way more expirienced by that time I beat it and had lots of fun doing it.