Posted on 01/09/2013 11:22:30 AM PST by Gamecock
(Did a search and couldn't find this posted elsewhere)
A thrill-seeker died when the giant inflatable Zorb ball he was riding in with a pal plunged over a cliff.
Married dad-of-two Denis Burakov, 27, broke his neck and spine after the sphere veered off course and began rolling down a mountain.
Amazingly Vladimir Shcherbakov, 33, escaped with concussion, cuts and bruises.
The friends' harrowing death ride plunge, in the Caucasus mountains of southern Russia, was caught on video but we have chosen not to use it.
As Denis climbs into the Zorb he can be heard telling him: "Denis, you'll be like Jackie Chan in the Armour of God movie!"
But moments after the giant ball sets off down the course it lurches to the right and then the left as frantic ride organisers chase after it in a bid to catch it.
A man's voice is heard saying "Oh f***, it's gone in the wrong direction again" before screaming 'hold it, hold it! hold!"
Then he says: "Ah well, it's OK, it'll stop by itself."
After plunging down Ganachhirskiy Gorge in the Dombai resort, the orb eventually came to rest about one and a half kilometres away on a frozen lake.
Mr Burakov was still alive when he was found by emergency services on January 3, but he died on the way to hospital.
Police commander Sergei Shuvayev said: "The orb went on for about one and a half kilometres, jumping on the rocks and hitting them."
The Stavropol edition of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported that Mr Burakov's friend was "extremely lucky".
It said: "As for whatever they felt falling down the slope it is hard even to imagine. Some compare the pressure to what cosmonauts feel."
Police are investigating.
Zorbing, first tried in New Zealand in the 1990s, puts riders inside two balls with an air cushion between them.
We need laws banning Zorbs. We need laws banning anything that hurts or kills people.
Sounds like a new Olympic sport....all medals are posthumous of course.
Zorb Control.
Zorb Ball.
Sounds like another quality product from Kramerica.
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