Jumped off a 50 foot cliff today. i have a broken disc too.

[brokeback1986]

hi everyone. newbie here and i havea question that has to do with my personal experience.

Today i jumped off a 50 foot cliff into deep water. the current was calm. i found this cliff at "great falls" virginia. me and a bunch of friends decided to jump off a cliff which was approxomity 50 feet high. Me being naive and trying to be tough, i jumped off the cliff with a bad back that i had injured 6 months ago. i have a bulging disc in my lower back. it was my first time jumping 50 feet ever.

my friends had told not to look down into the water when jumping but to look straight ahead. so jumped off, and i was in air for about 3 seconds. but during the fall i kinda looked up which caused my body to turn backwards like a 45 degree angle exposing my *** into the water. i landed feet first but my *** hit the water hard. so hard that my *** started hurting for 10 seconds. it felt like someone took a paddle and smacked me real hard in the *** cheeks.

My question is... did this put a lot of strain on my back? was the impact absorbed from just my ***?
i know if i jumped off a chair and landed my butt on concrete, I am pretty i would mess up my back too.



as of now i feel no pain but I am starting to wonder. can this type of impact put a lot of strain or pressure on my lower back area??

any input would be appreciated. my writing skills arent good so if u are still confused ask me...


i think it doesn't put strain on my back because my whole body did go thru the water so it wasnt like i stopped completely during impact.

 

[BobG]

When you wanted that cool pierced eyebrow just because all your friends had it, didn't your mom ever ask you, "If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?"

Or were you a smart aleck like me and gave the wrong answer?

50 feet is insane! You hit the water around 45 mph! (You were probably in the air less than 2 seconds unless you way underestimated the height).

I'd never jump off a cliff higher than 30 ft. You only hit the water around 30 mph at 30 feet. (And, to be honest, I probably wouldn't jump off a 30 ft cliff again - that's insanity, too.)

I'm sure your back absorbs at least some of the impact and that isn't very good if you already have a back injury. Just be glad you didn't spread your legs. Yikes!

Edit: First time?! You mean you might be stupid enough to do it again?!

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

In the Vegas show Le Reve a guy does a 90ft free dive, that was insane!

 

[wolram]

I can relate to this post, only a few weeks ago a young chap was killed diving into a dis used water filled quarry a mile or so from my village, the quarry is privately owned now and used for leisure activities so the (jumpers) have to trespass to practice their activity.
I can not remember how high the jump is but it is less than 50ft, it is a fact that it is terribly sad that the only time a TV crew has been to my village was to report on a needless death.

 

[Andre]

Probably many people around you, may not appreciate all this training for the Darwin award.

But:

but during the fall i kinda looked up which caused my body to turn backwards like a 45 degree angle exposing my *** into the water. i landed feet first but my *** hit the water hard. so hard that my *** started hurting for 10 seconds. it felt like someone took a paddle and smacked me real hard in the *** cheeks.

Thinking of physics, without external torque, your total angular momentum would not change during the free fall. So it seems to me that the moment of take off is crucial here, if you added some torque then you will turn in the air, no matter what.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

A few years back I saw some photos of Great Falls and on that basis, went there to see them. It is one of the most beautiful spots I've been to. I didn't jump though.

 

[vociferous]

At least you did not land head-first. The deck of the Golden Gate bridge is 220 feet above the water. Most of the people who jump off probably get knocked unconscious or break some part of their spinal column. Most of those who do not probably die of hypothermia, but a few do manage to survive.

It is not the fall that will kill you, it is the landing. I imagine that someone who knows what they are doing can probably jump 50 feet into the water without a huge risk, but I bet a lot of people have died from doing just that. If you loose consciousness, you better hope that your friends are good swimmers and know how to clear your airway.

 

[mgb_phys]

Thinking of physics, without external torque

You can't ignore aerodynamic effects with a body flaying around.

I have had to do similair entries as a diver. You have to keep your head tucked into your chest since the air resistance of the fins sticking out in front of you tends to pivot you backwards - the tank then hits the water first, slides up and whacks you on the back of the head.

Keeping your legs together and wearing a nice thick impact absorbing wet suit is also a good idea.
So is having the bouyancy jacket inflated in case you do get knocked out!

 

[Defennder]

All I can say is that you must be crazy. I have a slipped disc myself and I would never even dream of jumping off a cliff.

 

[Andre]

You can't ignore aerodynamic effects with a body flaying around.

I have had to do similair entries as a diver. You have to keep your head tucked into your chest since the air resistance of the fins sticking out in front of you tends to pivot you backwards - the tank then hits the water first, slides up and whacks you on the back of the head.

Keeping your legs together and wearing a nice thick impact absorbing wet suit is also a good idea.
So is having the bouyancy jacket inflated in case you do get knocked out!

sure but aerodynamics need airspeed, something there isn't much around of at the apex and the initial seconds. Tucking heads on chests is all about changing the absolute value of the inertia tensor of your body, controlling the rate of spin.

 

[Moonbear]

When you wanted that cool pierced eyebrow just because all your friends had it, didn't your mom ever ask you, "If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?"

I kind of thought it was common sense NOT to jump off cliffs.

 

[Evo]

When you wanted that cool pierced eyebrow just because all your friends had it, didn't your mom ever ask you, "If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?"

I guess we all know what his answer is.

 

[DaveC426913]

I kind of thought it was common sense NOT to jump off cliffs.

No need dis everyone. I can see doing daring activities if one plans them well and is experienced and healthy.

I dive. But I plan my dive and I dive my plan. And I scrub the dive if there's any good reason to.

But the OP seems to have ignored any precautionary (such as being experienced) or counter-indicative signs (such as a recent, very pertinent injury) and done something that, by all rights, should have left him paralyzed.

 

[russ_watters]

Or were you a smart aleck like me and gave the wrong answer?

Wrong answer? Sounds to me like he gave the right answer! The cliff diving I'd like to do would much higher, though, and would involve a parachute.

Btw - interesting choice of a username, BB.

 

[stickythighs]

People often die from jumping off bridges and cliffs that are fifty feet high. You're taking a big gamble with your life when you do that.

What if there is a submerged log four feet under the water that you can't see from the top of the cliff?

What if the tide is out and the water is only six feet deep? You will either break your legs on the ground if the surface is hard, or you might bury yourself six feet deep in mud.

If you land wrong from a 50 feet cliff jump, you might knock yourself unconscious.

There is a bridge in my hometown that is only 70 feet high at its highest point, and two people have died from jumping off of it.

 

[Integral]

I kind of thought it was common sense NOT to jump off cliffs.

Teenagers and common sense... Is that an oxymoron?

The highest I ever jumped off of was about 30'. Our main concern was to clear jagged rocks at the bottom!

Just last week I heard on the radio about having to call the rescue divers out to retrieve a body from the Willamette River. Seems a group of people were jumping off of one of Portland's bridges.. in the night. When authorities arrived several were still on the bridge, several more were wet on the bank, one was dead in the water. It was about 50'.

 

[DaveC426913]

Just noticed the OP is actually looking for feedback.

i think it doesn't put strain on my back because my whole body did go thru the water so it wasnt like i stopped completely during impact.

It does.

You know it does:

...my *** hit the water hard. so hard that my *** started hurting for 10 seconds. it felt like someone took a paddle and smacked me real hard in the *** cheeks...

You're attempting to rationalize your behaviour.