It definitely wasn’t one of his brightest ideas.
A man who hurled himself off the 11th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship has revealed what the impact did to his body.
Wild things are known to happen on cruises – especially when those infamous upside-down pineapples are involved – but one universal rule of any kind of travel is that you don’t jump off the vehicle.
Many assume leaping from a ship is far safer than jumping from a plane, but it’s often said that from a great enough height, hitting water can feel a lot like slamming into concrete.
Back in 2019, Nick Naydev decided to chase a bit of social media fame by hurling himself off the 11th deck of Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas — and he’s lucky the stunt didn’t kill him.
Nick Naydev jumped around 100ft into shark infested waters (Inside Edition)
He came up with the idea after a heavy night of drinking – exactly the kind of situation where the worst decisions tend to be made. After video of the stunt went viral, Royal Caribbean even considered taking legal action and branded the jump “stupid and reckless behaviour.”
Despite medical experts warning that falls from seven stories or higher carry around a 90 percent risk of death, Naydev somehow escaped without serious injury.
He told Good Morning America: “Six or seven hours after I was in quite a bit of pain and it took about three days for that pain to go away.
“I realise how dangerous this is, the height is pretty high and at that height, the water is almost like cement. I would never do this again.”
Speaking to Inside Edition, the then-27-year-old admitted he hadn’t appreciated just how far down the water was, and knows he was lucky to walk away.
“I remember hitting the water, impact was pretty big ’cause it was pretty high up. It impacted my tailbone and my neck pretty hard, luckily it wasn’t anything serious,” he said.
“Nothing was really going through my mind. I’m like, ‘I gotta do this,’ and just two seconds later, I just jumped and didn’t really think it through.”
Naydev went on: “The previous night we were drinking quite a bit, so I was still feeling the effects of the alcohol.”
He also stressed that he doesn’t want anyone copying his stunt, firmly saying: “I hope I don’t inspire anybody to do this because it is very dangerous, I mean they’ll think this is a joke.”
It wasn’t just his body that took a hit. Royal Caribbean slapped Naydev and his friends with a lifetime ban from its cruises, ensuring he’ll never get the chance to repeat the dangerous stunt.
Featured Image Credit: Inside Edition
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