10 Magic Tricks That Went Disastrously Wrong Live

5. Dean Gunnarson Dies (Temporarily)

No matter how much you practice or how skilled you are at daring escape tricks, locking yourself in an underwater coffin is tempting fate.

But that's exactly what Dean Gunnarson did in 1983 while performing his escape trick in front of a massive audience.

Gunnarson was wrapped in chains, nailed inside a wooden coffin (which was also sealed with chains), and lowered into the water. After almost four minutes of being trapped in the drink, there was no sign of him - so his coffin was brought to the surface.

Emergency crews prised open the coffin to find a cold, blue, lifeless Gunnarson stuck inside. They quickly moved him to an ambulance and attempted to resuscitate him, with Gunnarson regaining consciousness shortly after.

Gunnarson said he saw the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was thanks to the swift actions of the emergency professionals at the scene that he was able to hold on to his life.

 
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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.