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Harry Rossetani / AP
Niagara Falls emergency officials rescue a man who plunged over the falls in an apparent suicide attempt on May 21, 2012.
Reuters reports — A man survived a 174-foot plunge over Niagara's Horseshoe Falls on Monday but sustained life-threatening injuries, Canadian police said.
The man, whose name has not been released, became only the third person known to have lived through a fall over the massive cataract without safety devices.
Canada's Niagara Parks Police said witnesses reported seeing the man climb over a retaining wall about 20 feet above the brink of the falls at mid-morning and deliberately jump into the swift waters.
He surfaced a few seconds later in the lower Niagara River Basin below, near an observation platform, police said.
He "was located by a Niagara Parks Police officer along the rocky shoreline as he collapsed in waters that were up to the subject's waist," police said in a statement. Read the full story.
Harry Rossetani / AP
In a rescue that lasted about 30 minutes, staff from several agencies extricated the man, thought to be about 40 years old.
He was flown by an air ambulance to a hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, for treatment
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Ya'll are doomed anyway.....so do the Planet Earth and the rest of the Universe a favor and kill yourselves just get it over with already!
Geeze people!!reading this thread makes me see just how dead and uncaring alot of the living really are,my prayers and good thoughts go out to the survior and his familyhopefully things will turn around for this young man.
To all those that are joking about this, suicide is no joking matter. If anyone confides in you about suicide, do everything you can to make all that are close to that person aware of it.
IMO, people who contemplate suicide are often very loyal and heart felt people, they have value and should be treated accordingly.
LMAO, I'm sorry but it is too hard to read your post and then look at your name and make that make sense.
Still laughing. It's now almost creeping me out....
Eating people's liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti isn't really a joking matter either . That liver belonged to a very loyal and heart felt person .
Obviously a Leaf's fan.
Can't even kill yourself right....that's an epic fail. Hope the poor guy gets some help.
too bad the water fall did not do the job he wanted it to.
Well if he still wants to die there's always parachuting , with an Acme anvil accidentally packed instead of a parachute ala Wile E. Coyote ..
He heard that Obama was having Hillary as his VP and Romney was taking Biden as his VP.
Dumbo, Dumber, Dumbest and the 4 letter word - Dum
I was born and raised in Niagara Falls, NY and can tell you that this happens a lot more than gets reported. I would conservatively guess about 5 times a year. Not many survive - either they die from the impact on the massive rocks at the bottom, or by passing out and subsequently drowning. Usually the bodies are found way downstream, if at all. I've never heard of anyone getting rich by telling their story or going the talk show route. It barely makes a paragraph in the local papers. I've been to the falls about a gazillion times and can see the lure it has for some people. Almost mesmerizing. I, for one, won't be there when whats-his-name walks a tightrope over the falls sometime in the next few months. They are estimating about a million people and frankly, I don't think many places in the park can support that quantity (or quality) of people.
When it's your time, it is.
When it's not, it's not.
Wow. I hope the visitor's center/museum at the Falls doesn't add his name and story to their exhibit of the people who have gone over the falls & lived....because we shouldn't be praising this guy as a hero...he tried to kill himself. He needs to be left alone with his family & get some therapy! Not plastered across some plaque in a visitor's center at Niagara Falls!
Lol...no, we don't brag about things like this. There are exhibits of people who have tried stunts in the past, like going over the falls in a barrel or have gone across on a tightrope, but these types of unauthorized stunts are now against the law (that's where the fines come in). Like I said, there are lots of suicide attempts and accidents. Some live, most die. A few years ago some visiting teenagers climbed over the guardrails and fell to their deaths. People have succumbed to the rapids while trying to save their dog. A woman tossed her baby in one time that I know of. Things like this happen way too often. There are emergency phones all over the park because a lot of things happen there.
60 years on the throne is long enough. Time to abdicate and let charlie or bill has a chance!
Can someone explain why we even bothered to go pull him out of the water? He wanted to die, we risked people's lives to got get him when he failed to kill himself. He should have just been left to fend for himself.
Most likely in these situations, people don't know if the person jumped, was pushed, or accidently fell. Do you just leave them treading water and assume they want to die?
Why the rescue? Let the foolish weed themselves out.
Why? .
Wow, he survived, too bad.
I see this as a sad situation where the man may not survive and he, undoubtedly, has people who care for him. I also hope they don't see the heartless comments expressed here.
He went over on the Canadian side so Canada gets to pick up the tab. He should have done it on the US side if he was serious about ending it.
Very lucky guy. They took him to a hospital in Canada. If they took him to a hospital in the states he would be paying for it the rest of his life. In Canada every one has health care. No worries, no bills. You guys in the states just don't get the whole health care thing, because people with out it, don't get to talk about it on TV. Ya sure Canadians complain about it, and have to pay for it with tax money. But they have it when they need it. So no worries mate.
You've just received a second chance at life. Take it and swim with it.
BLAH BLAH BLAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I certainly hope he obtains some better coping skills should he survive. Most of us take our mental health status and stability for granted. Its truly sad he felt he had no other options but suicide.