Seconds from death: the escapologist buried alive
Houdini stunt almost ends in disaster after failed bid to emerge unaided from beneath six tons of soil
AN ESCAPOLOGIST who hoped to trump Harry Houdini after being buried alive was lucky to escape with only a broken rib after he failed to emerge almost nine minutes into the challenge.
Antony Britton hoped to escape unaided after being handcuffed and buried in a standard-size grave beneath six feet of soil.
But the 43-year-old daredevil had to be hauled out when he lost consciousness and said he is “lucky to be alive”.
An anxious crowd at Slaithwaite Spa, West Yorks, watched as Britton was rescued, taken to an ambulance and given oxygen, before coming round.
After walking away with a cracked rib and several scratches, Britton admitted it could easily have been his last show.
“I almost died,” he said. “I was just seconds away from death. It was scary. The pressure of the soil was crushing around me.
“Even when I found an air pocket, when I exhaled, the soil around me was crushing me even more.
“I could feel myself losing consciousness and there was nothing I could do. I was pretty much dying. But everyone was on the ball and the crew was welldrilled.
“They knew pretty much where I would be under the soil and after the digger had moved in behind me, the team were hand-balling the soil until they could reach me.”
Britton, from Linthwaite, West Yorks, added that his biggest disappointment was to discover he was just two feet from the surface when he had to be rescued.
He said: “I gave it my all but it just wasn’t my day.”
Britton claims to be only the third person in 100 years to attempt the “Buried Alive” challenge.
The legendary Harry Houdini, who was known around the world for his elaborate escape routines, failed in 1915 while the magician Alan Alan had to be dug out in 1949.
Britton added: “I couldn’t be more proud than to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those guys on this challenge.”
His dramatic rescue came at an Escape for Life event to raise funds for the charity Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.
On his online fundraising page, he wrote: “As we are now approaching the 100th anniversary of the first attempt of the buried alive challenge, I thought it was the right time for me to attempt it.
“I will be buried in a grave with over six tons of soil on top of me. I will not be in a coffin nor will there be any masks, pipes or oxygen tanks. The job is clear: I must escape the grave unaided.”
After his near-death experience, Britton has said he won’t be attempting the challenge again. He said: “I’ll take three or four weeks to recuperate and see what we do next.”
It isn’t the first time the escapologist has come unstuck during a performance. A Bradford crowd watched in horror last year as he tried to wriggle out of a straitjacket suspended by burning ropes. And in 2013 he was burned when an 8ft cage – dubbed Lucifer’s Chamber – in which he was incarcerated was engulfed in flames.