For three days, street magician David Blaine stood inside a six-ton block of ice in New York’s Times Square as a large crowd hooted and hollered and a team of doctors monitored his vitals to make sure he didn’t turn into a human Popsicle.
After 61 hours, 40 minutes and 15 seconds, Blaine finally wanted out.
He emerged from the icy encasement looking pale, weak and slightly in pain. Doctors’ biggest fear was that the 27-year-old would lose circulation and suffer frostbite. They were able to gauge his vital signs by hooking him up to several monitors, despite one becoming dislodged when he put on a shirt on Tuesday.
“This is by far the most painful thing I am ever going to go through physically, much more difficult than the buried alive,” Blaine told Reuters Television before attempting the three-day stunt.
To train for the event, Blaine spent time immersing himself in tubs of ice water. His exact condition after being freed from his icebox wouldn’t be known until after doctors complete thorough tests. Blaine also made headlines last year after spending seven days lying in a glass-topped box that was lowered in the ground. He survived on a limited supply of water.
Blaine has said that his next stunt will be a leap from the Brooklyn Bridge.
