they're not the biggest falls in the
world not by a longshot but they're
certainly among the most famous Niagara
Falls attracts millions of visitors from
around the world every year people come
for the history they come for the
romance they come for the spectacular
view but some people just can't get
close enough this is what is and here's
what would happen if you fell into
Niagara Falls there are three different
waterfalls that make up Niagara Falls
but the one that gets all the attention
is the Canadian Horseshoe Falls the
Canadian Horseshoe Falls is about 57
meters tall and 670 meters wide water
rushes over its edge and a peak speed of
109 km/h dumping about 2.8 million
litres of water over its edge every
second considering its height its speed
and its raw natural power it's hard to
believe that anyone could survive a trip
over the falls and yet it's been done
several times was it skill or was it
luck how do you survive a fall into
Niagara Falls the first person to
survive a trip over Niagara Falls was
any Edson Taylor in 1921 on her 63rd
birthday she crawled into an oak and
iron barrel and floated right over the
edge of the falls Taylor performed the
stunts for money and fame but she didn't
earn much for her feet nonetheless
Daredevils seeking to follow in her
footsteps were not deterred in 1928 for
example Jean Lussier went over Niagara
Falls in a 182 centimeter rubber and
steel ball lined with 32 inner tubes
Lussier survived the fall and spent the
rest of his life selling souvenirs
to tourists not all the Daredevils were
as lucky as Taylor and Lussier in fact
of the 16 people who've tried to beat
the falls just a little more than half
have lived to tell the tale to date only
five people have survived an unprotected
fall down the Canadian Horseshoe Falls
the first and youngest was Roger
Woodward in 1960 he was only 7 years old
at the time when a boating accident
caused him to be swept overboard and
over the edge of the falls Woodward was
rescued shortly after and made a full
recovery after spending just three days
in the hospital being treated for a
concussion today that event is still
referred to as the miracle at Niagara
most rescuers and experts at Niagara
consider unprotected survival stories to
be Blind Luck but there are some
strategies that might just save your
life if for any reason you find yourself
hurtling 109 km/h in freezing cold water
towards the edge of a 57 meter drop the
first thing you need to remember just
before you go over is to take a really
deep breath when you reach the bottom
there will be so much water swirling
around you not to mention the intense
pressure of the water falling from above
that you can easily suffocate so taking
a big gulp of air before your fall could
buy you some time
you'll also want to take precautions to
protect your head if you can orient
yourself so that you fall feet first
then you'll want to wrap your arms
around your head with your elbows over
your nose and clench your eyes and mouth
shut as tightly as possible in fact you
should tense up all your muscles and
bring your legs together before impact
making your body as watertight as
possible you're already incredibly lucky
if you survive the fall but that doesn't
mean your ordeal is over
the water temperature below the falls is
around the freezing mark
which gives you about 15 minutes to get
out of there before hypothermia kicks in
you'll likely be badly bruised and
terribly disoriented but if you can stay
calm and focused
you might just be one of the lucky few
to survive a fall into Niagara Falls of
course the best way to survive is to pay
attention to the warning signs and
respect the safety rails after all the
Falls are huge do you really need to
risk your life to get a closer look then
again people have survived crazier Falls
can you believe anyone could survive
falling out of an airplane well that's a
story for another what if
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