8-Devin Janvere
16-year-old Devin Janvere was swimming with his family and several friends at the Walter
Dam in Michigan, USA, when he decided to jump off a nearby cliff. There was no swimming
or diving allowed in the area, but this didn’t discourage the teenager. He climbed to 30
feet, and leapt into the water. Though he managed to resurface at first, Janvere struggled
to swim ashore. Several people tried to reach him and help him stay afloat, but they were
unable to get to Janvere in time. Several dive and scuba teams joined the search, eventually
discovering Janvere’s corpse 50 feet underwater.
What is it?
Cliff jumping is an extreme sport that consists in jumping from great heights into bodies
of water. While competitive divers can jump from up
to 85 feet, professional show divers easily leap from cliffs over 148 feet. To put things
into perspective, that’s as tall as the Chicago Water Tower!
When it involves the use of a parachute, the practice is known as BASE jumping. Cliff diving
can be performed with no special clothing or equipment, though higher jumps pose greater
risk of injury or death. The record holder is Laso Schaller, with a 193 feet jump! Imagine
leaping off an 18-story building and falling straight into a body of water. That’s what
Shaller did in Cascata del Salto, dropping at a speed of 76 mph.
7-Unnamed man
The body of a 32-year-old man was recovered after it resurfaced at Kal Lake, in British
Columbia, Canada. The corpse displayed signs of trauma consistent with a fall from height.
A few days prior, an eyewitness had called emergency services when he saw a man jumping
from a cliff at the provincial park, but didn’t notice him swimming back to the surface.
The area was searched and an underwater camera was used to locate the unidentified man, but
it wasn’t until two days later that his corpse was discovered. Cliff jumping is incredibly
popular in the region, and the police urged the public to be careful when practicing this
extreme sport and not to take unnecessary risks.
6-Kerrigan Davis
20-year-old Kerrigan Davis was spending the day with three friends at Niquette Bay State
Park in Colchester, a town in England. They decided to attempt to jump from the tallest
cliff around Lake Champion, which towered 70 feet above the water. When Davis leapt
into the water, she thought everything was alright, at first. But moments later, a numbing
sensation began to spread, and she then began experiencing intense pain. She didn’t hit
any rocks or fish, but rather failed to fall into the water in the correct position. The
impact alone had caused her brutal injuries. She was rushed to the UVM Medical Center,
where several tests were run. The doctors discovered she had broken one of her vertebrae
and the shattered bone was sinking into the spinal nerve. Davis had to endure surgery
and months of intense treatment after that.
Where is it located?
Cliff jumping is practiced all around the globe. There are particularly popular locations,
such as Hawaii, which is considered the birthplace of this sport. La Quebrada in Acapulco, Mexico,
Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon, the Seven Mile Beach in Negril, Jamaica and the Serpent's
Lair in Ireland’s Aran Island are among the most popular jumping sites. The World
High Diving Federation was founded in Avegno, Switzerland. One of the first daredevil cliff
jumps can be traced back to 1770, when the last king of Maui, Kehekili, leapt from the
63-feet high Kaunolu cliff, earning the moniker Birdman. His soldiers were commanded to follow
behind, in order to show their bravery. In modern times, there have been several reenactments
of this event.
5-Daniel Salisbury
Daniel Salisbury was turning 33 and wanted to do something special to celebrate his birthday.
As such, he took a trip with several friends to Kalamalka Lake in Canada. They were planning
to cliff jump at Rattlesnake Point. When Salisbury jumped, he failed to assume the correct position,
and ended up landing on his stomach. His friends waited for him to resurface, but he never
did. They immediately called for help, but nothing could be done to rescue Salisbury.
His body was discovered the following day by divers. His corpse was taken to the morgue,
where it was determined that Salisbury drowned after the hard impact he’d suffered. This
wasn’t the first such incident in the area during Father’s Day weekend. A few days
before, Kashif Sheikh jumped into the water, attempting to save his daughter. The young
girl survived, while her father drowned before help could arrive.
4-East Wareham man
An unnamed Massachusetts man suffered life-threatening injuries after cliff jumping in Freetown State
Forest. Though his name was not disclosed, it was noted that the 19-year-old had been
practicing the extreme sport with some friends and that the rest of the group noticed he
didn’t resurface. Emergency services were subsequently called to the site. The spot,
featuring an 80-foot drop, was a common place for cliff-jumping, and injuries were reported
rather frequently. The firefighters answering the distress call managed to pull the 19-year-old
from the water and performed CPR. Since his state was critical, urgent care was required,
and a med flight was called in. He had to be carried one mile into the woods to reach
the chopper that would take him to the hospital. Though the man required urgent surgery, his
development state hasn’t been released to the media as of the upload of this video.
How will it kill you?
There is great risk in any cliff jump, to the point that official tourism sites don’t
encourage this sport. Leaping from great heights puts great stress on the human body. Merely
jumping from 20 feet involves hitting the water at up to 25 mph. This is a hard enough
hit to break bones, get concussions or badly compress the spine. If you don’t enter the
water correctly, it’s like hitting hard concrete. Jumping from taller cliffs can lead
to dislocated joints, multiple broken bones, permanent paralysis and even death. Even when
falling at the right angle and position, there’s still a chance you’ll be seriously injured.
It’s very important to make sure there aren’t any bodies of rocks or branches on the landing
site. Jumping into shallow waters may lead to hitting the bottom at high speed and awkward
angles, which is often fatal. Divers have been known to become disoriented underwater,
and in their panic, end up drowning by swimming the wrong way.
3-Garrett Berg
Garrett Berg was 17 years old when he decided to go cliff jumping at Lake Byllesby, in Cannon
Falls, Minnesota. That part of the lake is only accessible through private property,
and the sheriff’s office routinely gets calls to remove trespassers. 30 other people
had been escorted out of the zone, but the group of teenagers accompanying Berg managed
to make the jump. Though he’d seemed to have landed in the
water without any problems, one of his friends jumped right after him and landed on Berg,
pushing him further down. The unnamed teenager managed to swim to the surface, but Berg was
nowhere to be seen. A 911 call was immediately placed and the authorities arrived at the
lake at 5:25 pm. Three hours later, a dive team recovered Berg’s corpse.
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2-Christopher Michael Sterley
The police at Randolph County, in North Carolina, received an urgent call, in June of 2020,
informing them of an accident at the Harris Reservoir. Christopher Michael Sterley had
taken a leap from a spot that’s known as “the jumping rock”. Family members panicked
when the young man failed to resurface. Several rescue teams worked together to rescue Sterley,
but there were no signs of him. After a few hours, the search turned from a rescue to
a recovery mission. Local citizens and businesses donated water and food for the agencies and
volunteers working on the case. It took two days for divers to finally discover Sterley’s
corpse, who’d drowned after apparently suffering a concussion upon impact.
How to survive?
It’s vital to practice thoroughly before attempting to jump off steep cliffs. Swimming
pool platforms are a good way to start. The most adequate form of breaking the water’s
surface is in a pencil shape, as slim as possible, with the feet pressed together and pointing
downward. This helps reduce the force of impact. Never go jumping alone! Sticking to the buddy
system means that, if something goes wrong, someone can immediately call for help. Before
making the jump, always explore the area to make sure the water is deep enough and that
there aren’t any big stones where you’ll land. Though it’s not mandatory, using a
wetsuit may help in avoiding harm by adding a layer of protection. Unless you have ample
experience, don’t attempt any acrobatics on the way down. This might cause you to land
in the wrong position and thus sustain painful, potentially lethal damage.
1-Durdle Door
Several daredevils were severely injured after taking a jump off a 200-foot cliff located
at Durdle Door in Dorset, England. That’s a greater drop than if you were to jump off
the top of The Leaning Tower of Pisa. All the victims’ names weren’t released to
the public. The first victim was given CPR on the beach, by an off-duty medic, and had
to be airlifted to the hospital. His condition was critical. A 25-year-old man suffered extensive
spinal damage and also required a helicopter lift to the ER. The third jumper’s injuries
were less severe, as he’d only badly damaged his leg. Since his condition wasn’t life-threatening,
he was driven to the local hospital by a land ambulance. All of these accidents happened
on the same day, while hundreds of bystanders cheered and encouraged jumpers to take the
leap.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather cliff jump from 50 feet or fire-walk the length
of a football field while being chased by hornets? Let us know in the comments section
below!