Udupi: The Christian High School Ground on Saturday, February 21 witnessed the ‘Buried Alive Escape Act’ by world’s greatest escape artist Dean Gunnarson from Canada. This event was organized by Prof Shankar and Shankar Junior of Gili Gili Magic team.
The escape artist, uttering the slogan ‘I love India and thank you India’, was handcuffed, chained around his neck and locked inside an iron box at 6.52 pm. Prior to that, he entered the venue at 6:35 pm and cheered the onlookers. The handcuffs were regularly checked to ensure that he was secured well. The iron box weighed 300 kilograms. The iron box was tied with three chains and was lifted with an earthmover at 7:12 pm. Tubes for ventilation were kept alongside the box. Dean carried a small oxygen cylinder. He added, “My new home is India. However, I have to go back to Canada to be with my family.”
The ground where Gunnarson would be buried comprised of the wire straps connecting two cameras, one belonging to a Canadian television channel and the other for local observation. There was a small hole on top of the box to make sure that Dean is still inside and he would wave at the viewers very often. He said that he would spend “24 hours without food, water, cell phone and off course wife”. The iron box with Gunnarson was lowered and filled with mud at 7:29 pm. While under the ground, Dean confirmed that he could hear the sound of the earth mover and the mud that was being poured on him. He will be in this condition for 24 hours and will escape on 22nd February at 6:00 pm.
Sharing his experience with mangalorean.com Dean Gunnarson said, “When I was ten years old, my mom brought a book on Houdini’s escape art. I was very much impressed and decided to hunt my dreams and achieve my passion. I was dreaming of travelling the whole world and showing my dare devil stunts.”
He further said that the inspiration was so deep that he would not yield to any pressure stopping him from reaching goal. He added that he loves his family too much and wants to be with them forever. He holds the pictures of his two daughters in his pocket whenever he performs these daring acts. He claims, “It is important for people to follow their passion and work on it. I am very lucky that I have found my passion in such nerve chilling stunts”. He tells people “have hope and never give up. Fight till the end. Hope is indeed necessary to perform any skill, and hope and passion are the only things that keeps one alive”. He says that escape art has completely changed his life.