Number 10 Daniil Gagarin and Emma Mönkkönen On September the 23rd of 2021, two fitness
coaches drowned at La Zorra cove, off the coast of Spain, after one of them had jumped from a cliff
into the raging waters below. Russian expat Daniil Gagarin and his colleague Emma Mönkkönen,
aged 30 and 23 respectively, had been working at a gym in the resort city of Torrevieja.
Gagarin’s wife was filming them and she captured most of the tragic incident as it unfolded,
with her panic induced screams being heard halfway through the clip. As the waves violently battered
the cliffs, Mönkkönen launched herself from the cliff and got into difficulty shortly thereafter,
as she was unable to cope with the strong current. Gagarin and his wife were desperately trying to
guide her to safety before the former jumped in the turbulent sea to try and rescue her.
Gagarin displayed tremendous physical fitness, while waves were repeatedly battering him,
as he managed to pull himself and Mönkkönen onto a rock. Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold on to
the slippery surface for long and were swept into the open Mediterranean. Both drowned and, in the
extensive search that followed, Mönkkönen’s body was found nearly two miles from the cliff while
Gagarin’s body was retrieved the following day. Number 9 Dominic Ortiz Bonilla
Dominic Ortiz Bonilla suffered devastating injuries, in July of 2019,
as he launched himself off a 60-foot cliff in Spokane, Washington. 22-year-old Bonilla jumped
in an area of Long Lake known as The Cove, and free fell from a distance comparable to that of a
bowling lane. One witness reported that the cliff from which he’d jumped was particularly dangerous
because the water below wasn’t deep enough. As he landed, Bonilla smashed his head on the
jagged rocks and remained submerged after becoming unconscious. Other swimmers in
the area dove after him and brought him to the surface. Three off-duty firefighters, in a boat
and two personal watercrafts, arrived at the scene and they took Bonilla to an area from which he
could be airlifted. He was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center where he eventually
passed away. Emergency personnel had been called to The Cove in the past to reports of injuries
sustained by divers who hadn’t jumped far enough into the lake to avoid the rocks. At that time,
Bonilla was the only fatality to have been reported at the site but, roughly two years later,
in June of 2021, another deadly accident occurred that mirrored his. An unnamed man had jumped from
a 50-foot cliff at the same location and, like Bonilla, didn’t resurface. Witnesses attempted
CPR at the scene before he was taken to Willow Bay Marina, in Stevens County, where efforts to revive
him continued but ultimately proved fruitless. Number 8 Thomas Painter
As it stands, the record for the highest cliff dive belongs to Laso Schaller and it
was achieved at Cascata del Salto in Maggia, Switzerland, in 2015. The then-27-year-old
jumped feet-first and free fell the rough equivalent of a 17-story building, at nearly 193
feet. He impacted the water at an estimated 72 mph and, had he made any mistakes in angling his body
for breaking through the surface, the consequences would’ve been dire. At his speed of entry, the
water was akin to concrete. Fortunately, Schaller was a high-diving professional who had trained
extensively for his death-defying jump and relied on his preparation for its successful completion.
Thomas Painter’s athletic background and diving experience are unclear but, in September of 2021,
he attempted an extremely dangerous jump from a cliff at Lake of the Ozarks, in Missouri. The
41-year-old Bosworth man was at the 64.5 mark of the lake’s main channel, in Camden County, and
leapt from roughly 125 feet. To put that distance into perspective, it’s more than half the wingspan
of a Boeing 747 airliner. Painter didn’t resurface and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
According to officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, his body was recovered and taken
to Hedges Funeral Home. An official report is pending but it’s believed that he was knocked
unconscious by the impact and drowned. Number 7 Steven Andrews
Steven Andrews suffered life-changing injuries, in 2008, when he jumped off a
cliff at Sharrow Beach in southeast Cornwall, England. Andrews, a 25-year-old builder,
was visiting the coast with his girlfriend. He’d reportedly had six vodka shots at a pub nearby,
presumably to build up his courage as he planned on jumping from a 25-foot cliff.
Members of the coastguard had seen him near the edge of the steep rock formation and tried to warn
him away. Andrews ignored them and jumped into what he believed would be deep water. Unbeknownst
to him, the fast-flowing tide had reduced the sea level at the base of the cliff to a mere 3
feet. In front of his girlfriend, Andrews crashed into the rocks, breaking his neck and severely
damaging his spine. Lifeguards pulled him from the water and he regained consciousness on the beach,
confused about what had happened. He was rushed to the hospital and into surgery but the damage was
too extensive to mend. As his mother stood by his bedside, some of Andrews’ first words to her were
“I want to die” upon realizing that he couldn’t move. Doctors told him that he’d never walk again
after his drunken stunt had left him paralyzed from the neck down. He spoke to a media outlet
from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon, warning others about the dangers of cliff jumping.
Number 6 Jose Onofre Molina, Jr. Jose Onofre Molina Jr. died in June of 2015,
from catastrophic injuries sustained in a cliff dive gone wrong. 29-year-old Molina, of Mohave
Valley, Arizona, and two other men were drinking in Laughlin, near the Nevada side of the Colorado
River. Molina approached the edge of a cliff and attempted to jump into the river, expecting the
water to cushion his drop. Unfortunately, he fell tragically short in his swan dive and impacted the
ground head-first. According to an administrator for the Big Bend of the Colorado State Recreation
Area, the river, which is the 5th longest in the US, fluctuates in depth daily and almost on an
hourly basis. Molina dove into the water when it was at its lowest point and it’s possible that the
alcohol had impaired his ability to properly assess the risks associated with his jump.
Number 5 Yevgeny Zinichev On September the 8th of 2021, Yevgeny Zinichev,
Russia’s Minister of Emergency Situations, died during a training exercise in the Arctic city of
Norilsk. Zinichev had worked as a KGB officer, during the final days of the Soviet Union,
and went on to serve on the security details of Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin,
from 2006 to 2015, prior to holding one of the highest-profile cabinet positions. The two-day
interdepartmental exercise simultaneously took place in several Arctic cities. It was
a documented endeavor that was primarily concerned with protecting the Russian Arctic. On September
the 8th, 55-year-old Zinichev and film director Aleksandr Melnik were standing on the edge of a
cliff in the area of the Kitabo-Oron waterfall. As reported by the ministry, Melnik slipped and
fell into the water. Before others taking part in the drills could get a grasp of the situation,
Zinichev leapt from the cliff in an attempt to save Melnik. However, by doing so, he landed on
a protruding rock and sustained critical injuries. The ministry didn’t specify if he died on impact
or at a later time but he was the first incumbent federal minister to die in the history of
post-Soviet Russia. The following day, by Putin’s decree, Zinichev was posthumously awarded the
title of Hero of the Russian Federation. Number 4 Kason Ryan Adams
In September of 2021, a Temecula teenager drowned in Lake Havasu, on the Arizona-California border,
after jumping from a rock formation in Copper Canyon. 19-year-old Kason Ryan Adams was last
seen launching himself from a 40-foot ledge that was known among other diving enthusiasts as “the
common jump rock”. He was submerged for 5 to 10 minutes, before witnesses intervened and
pulled him from the water. They performed CPR on Adams until deputies arrived and
took him to the Water Safety Center, where professionals continued to apply
life-saving measures but to no avail. Leading up to Adams’ death, there had been 10 drowning
incidents in the Colorado River in 2021, 5 of which were reported at Lake Havasu.
Number 3 Justin Jordanoff In October of 2018, Justin Jordanoff, from
Busselton in Western Australia, was visiting an island south of Bali. He wanted to add an element
of adventure to his holiday and decided to dive into the ocean from a cliff top. The 41-year-old
leapt from a rocky peak at Mahana Point, on Nusa Ceningan. He survived the jump but was forced to
battle a powerful rip current as he made his way back to shore on the nearby Blue Lagoon Beach.
Jordanoff initially seemed to be alright but, within minutes of reaching the beach,
he began to feel hot and dizzy. A friend rushed him to a local hospital where he was pronounced
dead on arrival. A Balinese doctor determined that he’d suffered a heart attack. Even though
he hadn’t sustained any serious injuries in the dive itself, fighting the current had placed
too great of a strain on Jordanoff’s body. Today's topic was requested by bilal buleti.
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in the comments section below. Number 2 Matthew Riggs
On July the 21st of 2018, US Army Staff Sargent Matthew Riggs was boating and swimming with some
of his friends at Lake Pueblo State Park, in Colorado. 31-year-old Riggs was stationed at
Fort Carson and, in the past, had performed tours of duty in Kosovo and Afghanistan. His decorations
included the National Defense Service Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star.
At some point during their day out, Riggs and his friends took turns jumping from an 80-foot cliff
at Cottonwood Creek Cove. Two of his companions went first and safely emerged from the water.
Like the others, Riggs also leapt from the cliff, which stood taller than the Hollywood Sign.
However, much to the concern of his friends, he didn’t resurface. They called 911 and the
Pueblo County Sheriff's Office's dive team as well as the Colorado Parks and
Wildlife authorities. Divers searched for Riggs’ remains that evening until it got dark and
diving conditions were no longer considered safe. Wildlife officers continued to comb the cove with
side-scan sonar and, the following day, divers found Riggs’ body in water about 30-feet deep.
Number 1 Sam Buchwald
In July of 2021, an Australian man felt “paralyzed” following a daredevil stunt at
Clarence Dam, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Self-proclaimed “Aussie adventurer” Sam
Buchwald launched himself from a cliff face on a rope swing and performed three somersaults before
hitting the water at an awkward angle. Buchwald would later post footage of the jump on TikTok.
He’d failed to complete his final rotation, which caused him to land on his back, from over 30 feet.
He returned to the rocky cliff by his own power but was coughing up blood. Overwhelmed with pain,
he stretched out on his back and covered his face. Because of the way he’d impacted the water,
Buchwald suffered bruises and ruptures in his lungs. Looking back on the incident he remembered
barely being able to move in the water and feeling as if his body had become paralyzed. Fortunately,
he recovered and counted himself lucky not to have broken his neck.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather dive head-first from a 24-foot cliff or spend 24
hours on the world's fastest rollercoaster? Let us know in the comments section below!