MUST SEE: Thrill-seeker swims out to Newfoundland iceberg
Digital Reporter
Sunday, July 9, 2017, 4:46 PM - Here's a video you have to see to believe.
Jerry George and his wife of Steady Brook, Newfoundland were driving to Twillingate over the Canada Day weekend when they noticed a massive iceberg and decided to pull over to take a picture. There they met a man who had plans to strip down and swim out to the berg.
"It was seven degrees, it was windy, I had my down jacket on, and he said, 'I'm going to swim out to the iceberg, I've always wanted to touch an iceberg,'" George told CBC.
"I was thinking whether I was going to be dialing 911."
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While George warned the adventure-seeker about the risk of hypothermia, "it didn't faze him in the least," the Steady Brook resident told the news agency.
George's wife managed to capture footage of the man and his frigid journey to the iceberg.
"I think we were more overcome with what he was doing than he was," George told CBC.
Fortunately, the couple did not have to call emergency services. However, the Red Cross of Newfoundland and Labrador said the man's reckless behaviour could have come with major consequences.
"Icebergs are very unstable," Michael Beck, an instructor with the organization told CBC. "They could flip, they could completely roll over and as a result of that rolling, you're to get a lot of water being pushed away and you're going to get a lot of spray. You could also get chunks of ice that fly off and essentially that could knock you unconscious."
As dazzling as they may be, Beck warns sightseers should keep their distance.
"While icebergs are beautiful, they do have a lot of force and a lot of power, and people tend to underestimate them."
SOURCE: CBC
