Man who survived after jumping off 11th deck of cruise ship explained what he was thinking as he did it
A man who jumped from the 11th deck of a cruise ship recalled what he was thinking in that moment.
There are just some things that you shouldn’t do in a bid for fame, and plunging from a great height to the watery depths is one of them.
There’s a fine line between fun and fear, and this might be something that goes from one end to the other real fast.
Nick Naydev was sunning it up on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Symphony of the Seas, while it was docked in Nassau, Bahamas.
Advert
But the American decided that he and his friends needed to do something that would put them on the online map, and tried to gain some social media clout by having him jump off the deck of the cruise ship and into the water.
Naydev, who thankfully wasn’t seriously injured, or killed during the stunt, explained what he was thinking in the moments he took the leap.
In his attempt to go viral, he did something that a vast majority of people do, and don't survive.
As he leapt off the ship, with his friends filming him, laughing as he landed in shark-infested water.
He knew he’d messed up.
The 100ft drop stunned him, but he managed to avoid serious injury.
He revealed to Inside Edition in 2019 what his frame of mind was, as well as the physical toll.
He said: "I remember hitting the water, impact was pretty big 'cause it was pretty high up. It impacted my tailbone and my neck pretty hard, luckily it wasn't anything serious.
"Nothing was really going through my mind. I'm like, 'I gotta do this,' and just two seconds later, I just jumped and didn't really think it through.”
He added: "The previous night we were drinking quite a bit so I was still feeling the effects of the alcohol.”
He also admitted that he doesn’t want others to follow his own story, stating: "I hope I don't inspire anybody to do this because it is very dangerous, I mean they'll think this is a joke."
A joke it is not.
Because of his stunt, the Royal Caribbean banned Naydev and his friends from their cruises and slapped them with a lifetime ban.
In a statement, the cruise company called the stunt 'stupid and reckless', and that they were even 'exploring legal action'.
The footage of what happened after he entered the water was ultimately shared online, which sees him swim around like nothing happened afterwards.
There was also a boat deployed to collect him from the sea.
Little did he know that just three years later on 6 May, staff onboard P&O Cruise's 'Pacific Adventure' ship realised that an Australian man was missing after falling from the ship 10 nautical miles off Sydney Heads.
Officials later told the press that a man's body had been pulled from the water at 10.30am on Monday morning, after rescuers battled 'very rocky and windy' conditions to find him.
Topics: Travel, US News, Cruise Ship
Britt Jones