INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Escapologist Barely Survives In Houdini ‘Buried Alive’ Stunt

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 02:34 PST, Sep 9, 2015

Antony Britton was determined to beat his hero, Harry Houdini, at the notorious “Buried Alive” stunt, but almost lost his life in the attempt. He was buried in a grave, six feet under, wearing handcuffs with no masks, pipes, or oxygen tanks, and covered by five tons of soil.

Regrettably Britton, 43, failed exactly as Houdini did in his dangerous attempt at the “Buried Alive” stunt and had to be rescued. He was brought up from the grave unconscious and could easily have died.

According to the Independent, Britton made the attempt at a charity event run by Escape for Life at Slaithwaite Spa, West Yorkshire, Saturday. The “Buried Alive” stunt was reportedly all in a good cause to raise money for Bloodwise, a leukemia charity.

However, nine minutes after being buried, people watching the stunt began to get nervous and leaped into action, digging down to him with their hands and pulling him unconscious from the grave. Paramedics then rushed him to a waiting ambulance and managed to revive Britton and gave him oxygen.

As reported in the Huffington Post, it has been 100 years since Harry Houdini first attempted the “Buried Alive” stunt and failed, and Britton is only the second person to attempt the stunt since then.

Houdini was dragged unconscious from the grave in 1915, and the second to try it was 22-year-old escapologist and magician Alan Alan back in 1949, who was filmed in his failed attempt by Pathe News.

Bad things happen in threes, it seems, and Britton said, “I almost died. 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.”

Fortunately for Britton, he only suffered a cracked rib and some minor scratches, so it could have been much worse for him. He did say beforehand that this would be his most terrifying stunt ever.

He said he had prepared himself by concentrating on breathing techniques to overcome his fear as he lay in the grave, handcuffed, while a digger covered him with soil.

Britton was understandably relieved that his back-up team responded so quickly when it became clear the “Buried Alive” stunt had gone wrong. He said everyone on the team was on the ball and well-drilled.

“They knew pretty much where I would be under the soil and after the digger had moved in, the team were hand-balling the soil until they could reach me. I gave it my all, but it just wasn’t my day. But I’m in the best company going. I couldn’t be more proud than to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those guys [Houdini and Alan] on this challenge.”

This isn’t the first time that one of the escapologist’s stunts has gone wrong. Last year, Britton was suspended upside down from a crane wearing a straitjacket, while the ropes holding him were set on fire. The image below shows that attempt.

What he hadn’t planned for on that occasion was there were high winds that day, which caused the flames to burn faster through the ropes holding him. He was eventually dangling from one burning rope and was forced to dislocate his shoulder to free himself from the straitjacket and climb to safety, to avoid plummeting to the ground below.

While Saturday’s attempt was all in a good cause and did manage to raise funds for the charity, organized by his own not-for-profit company, Escape For Life, Britton said he will not be trying the “Buried Alive” stunt again and will remain in the record books with Houdini and Alan as failing at the attempt.

In other related news, the Inquisitr reported the story of another escapologist and daredevil who has achieved his eighth Guinness World Record by pulling a Cessna plane with chains attached to his earlobes. That attempt was far more successful.

[Image: Twitter / Antony Britton]

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