Man survives 180 ft plunge over Niagara Falls

[Sunset Lady]

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A man survived a plunge of at least 180 feet over Niagara Falls in an apparent suicide attempt Monday — only the third person known to have lived after going over the falls without a safety device.

Niagara Parks Police said witnesses reported seeing the man climb over a railing 20 to 30 feet out over the Horseshoe Falls at 10:20 a.m. and "deliberately jump" into the Niagara River. Seriously injured, he surfaced in the lower Niagara River basin near the Journey Behind the Falls observation platform and managed to make it to shore on his own.

"He waded ashore," said Platoon Chief Dan Orescanin of the Niagara Falls, Ontario, Fire Department. "He must have gotten swept into an eddy, floated over there and was able to get out on his own.

"That's another stroke of luck," Orescanin said. "If he was in the main current, he would have been swept down river."

Orescanin said the man was conscious and talking at first but got quiet. He appeared to have chest injuries, including broken ribs and a collapsed lung, Orescanin said.

The man was airlifted to Hamilton General Hospital with what police initially said were life-threatening injuries. Hospital spokeswoman Agnes Bongers said later that the man was critically injured but was expected to survive.

Authorities did not release the man's name.

For more with pictures: http://0-news.yahoo.com.precise.petrona ... 55225.html

[E_]

[katie]

Unfortunately, this poor fellow was trying to commit suicide (so they say) and why he would pick jumping over the falls to do so is beyond me, unless he wanted the torture of wondering how long it was going to take. Maybe a "spur of the moment" decision. Now they will have this guy in the hospital for God knows how long, put him through more physical pain than he has probably ever known, and psychoanalyze him to freaking death....

I have seen these falls up close and personal and can tell you that you can easily be hypnotized if you keep staring in the water immediately going over the edge. It appears to be about 3 feet deep (where I was on the Canadian side) and I was blown away by how deep the actual water was going over the edge. I was only about 10-15 ft from the fall. For me, I had to shake my head and BTFU.... and my thought at that time was, I can see how someone could talk themselves over if not in their right mind at the time.

[Sunset Lady]

I agree Katie, I have also been to the falls, and the water looks so peaceful coming down until it falls over the edge. Not sure why this guy decided to jump or others in the past, maybe just to be famous for doing it.

[Nervous Wreck]

I've been there a few times myself.

...and it's called a C.R.I. (Cranial Rectal Inversion)

[katie]

Nervous, that is bad!!