Daredevil carried out of ice cell after 2-1/2 days

Daredevil carried out of ice cell after 2-1/2 days
REUTERS

NOV 30: The Iceman cometh ... out.

After spending nearly 62 hours standing in a small cavity inside a six-tonne block of ice, illusionist David Blaine emerged into Times Square shaky and disoriented at the end of an hour-long television special on Wednesday night.

Blaine, who last year spent seven days buried in a glass-topped coffin, was sealed inside the ice block shortly after 9 am (1400 GMT) on Monday wearing only trousers, a knit cap and a pair of boots.

A hollow space only inches larger than his body had been carved into the sides of the two giant pieces of ice pushed together for the stunt.

Blaine had to stay upright and awake to avoid touching the inside walls. Drinking water and fresh Air were pumped in to him through a tube.

When workers made the first small hole in the 8-by-6-by-6-foot (2.4-by-1.8-by-1.8-metre) block at the end of the 10 P.M. EST television program on Wednesday (Thursday), his first words were: "I want out. I want out now."

Minutes later, Blaine was free, but he had to be carried. Shaky and seemingly disoriented, he said, "Something's wrong," as microphones were thrust into his face, and a close friend told reporters the daredevil "probably went into shock."

Blaine, 26, managed a light kiss for his girlfriend and was heard saying that his mind did not feel right after his sleep deprivation.

Wrapped in a blanket, he was carried to an ambulance, but he managed a slight smile and a nod for the thousands of fans and onlookers who crowded onto the corner of 44th Street and Broadway in a driving rain for the culmination of the stunt.

Since Monday, thousands of people had waited patiently in line to see Blaine make like a human Popsicle, with curious New Yorkers and tourists shuffling by to gawk, wave or touch the ice block to make sure it was real.

Blaine was hooked up to several monitors gauging his vitalsigns, although one became dislodged when he put on a shirt on Tuesday. He spent a total of 61 hours, 40 minutes and 15 seconds on ice.

Last week he said, "This is by far themost painful thing I am ever going to go through physically, much more difficult than the buried alive."

Despite training extensively by immersing himself in tubs of ice, his prediction seemed borne out on Wednesday night. Doctors said they were concerned by his condition but would not know more until they had performed thorough tests.

Previously they had said loss of circulation and frostbite were among the biggest dangers he faced.

During the television special, Blaine was shown on tape performing card tricks, bringing a seemingly dead pigeon back to life, conjuring a man's girlfriend's image on his torso and riffing on the old magician's rabbit-out-of-a-hat routine. Blaine produced a snake.

Last year he spent seven days lying in a glass-topped boxthat was lowered into the ground. Visitors filed by at all hours of the day and night to see him as he survived on a limited supply of water.

Blaine has said his next stunt will be a leap from the Brooklyn Bridge.