Post by Taxigirl on Nov 6, 2003 10:29:53 GMT
Illusionist David Blaine has announced his next stunt - jumping hundreds of feet from a helicopter into a river.
The US magician is already planning his next adventure, which will take place on his birthday - 4 April, 2004.
The announcement comes just weeks after he ended his enforced 44-day stay in a plastic box in London.
Blaine has not said where the helicopter plunge will take place, but added only a few had survived the jump - dubbed the "dive of death".
Speaking on CNN, he said: "If you go in (to the water) a little bit off if your body is not perfectly straight - you do not pierce the water right, you rip your ligaments off, you're paralysed, anything can go wrong," he said.
Psyche
He also gave assurances that he would be doing the jump with no parachute and "no dummy either - it will actually be me".
Talking about his enforced 44-day starvation, hanging from a crane in London, he said the only time he considered abandoning the stunt was when a man climbed up nearby scaffolding and cut his water supply.
"At that point I thought I was done. At that point I realised it had really got into the psyche of some people in a serious way," Blaine said.
A man was arrested and later convicted of criminal damage and threatening behaviour.
But Blaine said he got used to the crowds hurling eggs and insults at him, understanding why people were upset because "it's just a guy sitting in a box".
'Chewed away'
After exiting the box, he told interviewer Larry King, that he suffered heart palpitations and severe muscle pain.
"You feel all of your muscles, literally they're being chewed away," he said.
But he added that despite people questioning his sanity, he intended to carry on with his death-defying antics.
"I'm going to keep doing these things as long as I can. That's what I feel my reason is," he said.
