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.
“Denis, you’ll be like Jackie Chan in the Armour of God movie!”
Did Jackie die?
I guess it didn’t bounce.
Yup, ball on big hill roll down. . .
HOLD MUH VODKA AND WATCH THIS!.......
And if it don’t bounce? You go hungry!
Tovarich, hold my vodka...
Follow the bouncing Ball!
Hope it didn’t burst his bubble...
Seems like the guy at the bottom, who pushed the ball back onto the course, could have let the ball continue into a safer area.
That’s the way the ball bounces...
FNC just showed this video. Yikes! They didn’t have a damn thing set up to stop it from careening down the mountain. Talk about big balls!!
Tragic, because of the fatal stupidity and irresponsility involved. There are some things a married father of two should never try, and interestingly, there seems to be a growth in this trend of Russian daredevils lately. Think of the Moscow motorcyclist doing about 100 MPH , and those guys doing amazing handstands and handholds on unfinished steel skyscraper structures, both of which were posted on FR in the last few months.
correction : 100MPH through heavy city traffic!For about 20 miles!
Jack Chan in the zorb in “Armor of God 2:Operation Condor.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI7vz9Bd664
In Soviet Russia zorb ball rolls you!
One look at the fall line and you can see what will happen - sad.
I read that both died, in another FR thread.
Sad, but ya can’t fix stupid.
Nearly a Double Darwin Award.
On the other hand, such a govt. agency would likely have saved the lives of these two knuckleheads........
Like they say, 7 of one and half a dozen of the other........
Bump
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