Man survives 55-metre Niagara plunge
Manages to wade ashore on his own after suicide attempt
Niagara Falls, New York: A man survived a plunge of at least 180 feet over Niagara Falls in an apparent suicide attempt on 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 10.20am 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.
