A man, believed to be in his early 40s, survived a plunge after he jumped 180 feet over Niagara Falls without any safety device
Emergency officials rescued the man who survived the apparent suicide attempt plunge. The man is only the third person known to have gone over without a safety device and live, a major newspaper reported.
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Niagara Parks Police said that witnesses reported seeing the man climb over a railing at 10:20 a.m. Monday and “deliberately jump” into the Niagara River 20 to 30 feet above the Horseshoe Falls. He surfaced in the lower Niagara River basin near the Journey Behind the Falls observation platform.
Horseshoe Falls, on the Canadian side of the river, is the tallest of the three main falls, higher than the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.
The man was rescued about two hours after he collapsed in waist-deep water near the rocky shore. A waiting helicopter flew him to a hospital for treatment of what police said were life-threatening injuries. Police could not identify him.
The last person to go over the falls unaided and survive was a 30-year-old Canadian man in March 2009.