Man survives Niagara plunge

[T_i_B]

Don't try this yourselves folks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3210102.stm

The man, whose name has not been released by police, is the first person known to have gone over the famous north American waterfall without any protective device and lived.

Bystanders watched in astonishment as the man floated by in the Niagara River and plunged 180 feet (54 metres) down the Canadian side of the falls - known as the Horseshoe Falls, the Associated Press reports.

They described seeing him jump into the water and disappear over the edge of the falls without making a sound.

His motivation is not yet known.

[booksenkatz]

1. Wait

There was that little girl many years ago in the capsized boat... she survived as well. Can't recall if her little brother did or not.

I adore the Falls, it's one of my favorite places on earth, but just standing there admiring it scares the hell outta me. I can't imagine going over it by either accident or design!

[Minstrel Boy]

2. and there was a small boy

in the 50s or 60s who survived an accidental plunge. Maybe this guy is the first to survive purposefully going over the Falls without protective gear.

[ablbodyed]

7. I live near the Falls....

The story about the first KNOWN survivor of an unprotected plunge: Three people in a small boat, well up-river: A boy, Roger Woodward, about 8, his older sister, and an adult family friend. The engine dies, and can't be restarted; the current carries them helplessly down stream, to several hundred yards above the Falls, where it capsizes. The children, in life-vests, are separated by the current's analomies: The girl and the adult, without a life vest, are swept down the current towards the American Falls. The adult is carried over the Falls to his death, dashed on the huge boulders 120 or so feet below. The girl, bobbing in her orange(?) life vest is spotted by two NewJersey police officers on vacation. She is close enough to Prospect Point, on the American shore, so that one officer holds onto the railing while holding the WAIST BAND OF TH OTHER OFFICER WHILE HE STOOD IN THE WATER AT THE VERY EDGE OF THE PRECIPICE. He grabbed the girl at the last possible moment, and she was saved.
The boy, was swept on the other side of Goat Island, which separates the American from the Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls. He was thrown by the power of the current over the edge. He handed far enough out, was light enough so that the life vest kept him on the surface. There are no boulders below the Horseshoe Falls, because the amount of water, and its force, is great enough to grind them up. The American Falls takes only about 10% of the water. Roger was rescued almost immediately by the Maid of the Mist boat which takes tourists very close to the bottom of the Horseshoe. (By the way, because of the rapids below the Falls, the boats have to be built right where they are used.) I believe that this was about 1956. Roger is still alive, and occasionally revisits the scene . Saw him in To Tell the Truth shortly after the incident. It still gives me goosebumps, and the rescue of the girl still makes me cry.
Everyone should visit the Falls: no picture or video can demonstrate one tenth of the power. I worked as a tourist guide, taking people around the Falls in a scripted tour. EVERY TIME I saw the Falls, no matter how many times I saw it in a day, IT TOOK MY BREATH AWAY.

[booksenkatz]

8. Lucky you!!

To live near the Falls and to have worked there. I've only visited a handful of times, but it's my favorite place in the world. There's something truly magnetic about it, indescribable, powerful. My mom went there while she was pregnant with me, so maybe that's why I'm so drawn to it! I had planned to spend my 40th birthday there, but my baby was sick that day.

I had the Woodward story reversed, I was thinking that the girl went over the Falls. Ever since I heard the story of those children, I've had nightmares about going over. I've stood at that precipice, and it's a terrifying thought to imagine yourself as a policeman there, responsible for a child that is floating your way... you have one chance to save that life.

Thanks for sharing that info.

[huckleberry]

9. Do you live on the Canadian or American side?

I grew up in Buffalo, NY, but was born in Fort Erie, ONT. My parents now live in Lockport, NY. It's a great area and I LOVE the Falls. It's always amazing to see friends' reaction when they see the Falls for the first time.

[booksenkatz]

11. I'm in Michigan... about 5 hours away

And I almost fainted to learn that stuntboy comes from my tiny little Michigan township of Canton!

[Gman]

3. Maybe this guy's luck is so bad

he tried to commit suicide and lived.

A few days before I visited Niagra Falls, some guy had gone over and they hadn't found his body yet. The park ranger explained that the water holds the body under until it starts to bloat. Then it eventually pops up. When we asked if he was still there, the ranger replied, "yup, he's still down there somewhere." Wierd.

[NNN0LHI]

10. The police on neither the Canadian side or the American side like...

...to give numbers of suicides over the falls out. Bad for business. And as an aside, the amount of water currently going over the falls is about half of the actual potential. The rest is diverted for other uses. I like the place but it always makes me have to pee.

Don

[demdave]

4. Roger Woodward, 1960, 7 years old

Roger Woodward, 1960. Not technically one of the 15, because he used no barrel and didn't mean to go. Roger was seven years old at the time, and he's still the only person known to have gone over the falls unprotected and live. (He'd been in a small boat that developed engine problems and capsized upriver.) Observers speculated that he'd survived because his life jacket and light weight brought him back to the surface quickly after the initial plunge.



On edit.....in the original article it did say without a safety device , so I guess little Rogers life jacket keeps him out of the contest.

[speckledgator]

5. What a rush!

[emad]

6. Maybe that's what happened to Blair on Sunday morning....

He was reading out aloud the Sunday Times article which said Cherie is the Freebie Queen of the Northern Hemisphere for getting all those discounts on her wardrobe - thanks to Carole Caplin's baksheesh methods of wholesale shopping - and not declaring this to the Parliamentary Standards Watchdog which says all freebie blag must be reported and then paid for...........when WHAM! she hits him over the head with the Culture Supplement and pushes his head down the lavatory, shuts the lid and gives it a good flush!

It must have felt like the Niagara stunt your posting about......No wonder they had to take him to hospital afterwards.....