Woman's First Date With Surgeon Turns Nightmarish When He Pretends to Push Her in a Lake
"I thought you were damn adorable too... Until I thought I was gonna die!"
Published May 1 2025, 10:00 a.m. ET
The world of dating looks nothing like it did years ago. These days, folks meet and hook up after a few messages on apps like Bumble, Hinge, or OkCupid, and many even end up married.
Still, one woman’s story about a first date with a surgeon she met on Hinge is precisely why I have my doubts about online dating. What started as a pleasant evening quickly spiraled into something that had her fearing for her life. Here’s what went down, and why it might be a while before she steps back into the dating scene.
Woman's first date with a surgeon takes a dark turn when he pretends to throw her in a lake — twice!
TikToker Cassidy (@cassidykaschmitter) jumped on the app to share the pretty strange details of a first date she had — one that will likely be her last for a while based on how things unfolded and the awkward conversation that followed via text.
Before diving into the horrific encounter, Cassidy had to collect herself, admitting she was "trying not to freak out" as she recounted what happened. At first, everything was going well. The guy, a surgeon she met on Hinge, even offered recommendations for how to manage her lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. He shared some studies she could participate in, and after about 45 minutes of talking in the park, it came time to leave.
But as they were walking out, they had to pass a steep dip with a lake at the bottom, and that’s when he grabbed her and pretended to push her in. Cassidy immediately freaked out. Who wouldn’t? What if she had actually slipped and fallen into the lake? And let’s not forget, she didn’t know this man from a can of paint.
Shocked, she asked, "What the f---k are you doing?" He then apologized repeatedly and even kissed her hand. Cassidy told him she genuinely thought that was the end for her, though he assured her, "You’re not going to die," and offered to walk her safely to her car. Oh, now he’s concerned about her safety? Two seconds earlier, he was pretending to bulldoze her into a lake.
As they continued walking, now with her feeling even more uneasy, he did it again — pretended to push her into the lake. She noted the lake was "pitch black" — then quickly corrected herself to say it was pitch black outside. And at that point, you’ve really got to ask: Why would anyone agree to a first date with a stranger by a lake … in the dark?
To her credit, she later clarified in a follow-up video that they had arrived while it was still sunny, but the park was large, and by the time they walked back, the sun had gone down. Still, the red flags were waving!
As they made their way back, her date tried smoothing things over, telling her he was sorry and "shouldn’t have messed with her because she’s adorable." But let’s be honest, everything about this date was a red flag, and probably a solid reason to stick to dates that come via friends or family recommendations.
In that same follow-up TikTok, it seems that after Cassidy had time to mull things over, she realized there were plenty of red flags. She remembered him saying he had lived all over — Italy, Dubai, and now the U.S., where he went to med school. At one point, he even tried to reassure her that he wasn’t a serial killer. Whether he was trying to be funny or not, that’s just not a line that lands well. If anything, it makes things feel weirder.
And if all that wasn’t enough, after she told him how uncomfortable he made her feel, he texted her saying, "At least you survived, ha, ha, ha." So yeah, this Hinge match gets a big, fat red X.