Magician makes 80ft dive
Daredevil magician David Blaine today plunged 80ft into a pile of empty cardboard boxes and declared: ‘‘That hurt.’’
The modern-day Houdini made the death-defying leap after spending just under 35 hours perched on a 22-inch circular platform.
Three thousand onlookers in Manhattan’s Bryant Park waited anxiously as his support team frantically battled through the boxes to recover him following his dramatic return to earth.
He finally emerged looking shattered by the ordeal, but managed to raise his fist to salute the crowd before being treated by paramedics.
Speaking in little more than a whisper he said he was ‘‘feeling OK’’, adding that his landing on his back had been painful.
‘‘I want to thank everybody for helping make this happen. This is just the beginning. God bless all of us. Peace everyone,’’ he said before being helped away.
The 29-year-old had told reporters after 24 hours on the pillar that he was ‘‘living on adrenaline’’.
Despite his exhaustion, he managed to cling on for 34 hours and 23 minutes, a little short of the planned 35 hours.
The illusionist had no safety net or airbag, only an ankle-high pair of handles to cling on to.
In previous stunts, he has been encased in a block of ice for 60 hours and buried for seven days and nights in a transparent coffin.
To prepare the latest feat he trained with high-fall specialist Bob Brown who has served as stunt double for Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage and Kevin Spacey.
He went without food for four days before mounting the platform and had only a small water bottle with him to prevent dehydration. He urinated through a tube.
The pillar was going to be 100ft tall, but his team realised the speed of the fall would kill him.
The stunt will be screened on Sky One on May 26 as the highlight of a one-hour David Blaine special.
For his next feat, Blaine will be chained and handcuffed then thrown from London’s Tower Bridge into the freezing River Thames, before escaping his bonds and resurfacing alive.
The trick, due to take place next February, echoes legendary escapologist Harry Houdini’s escape from chains in New York’s East River.
