Since the dawn of time, it seems, the human race has decided that, if something is tall, we must figure out if we can jump off of it. Since the invention of the parachute, and bungee cord, we have been MUCH more successful at doing this from tall places, and surviving.

But, what about if you didn't have a safety net of any kind, and fell from one of Michigan's biggest bridges into the water? Could you survive?

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First of all, completely disclosure, we do NOT encourage the activity of jumping off of bridges into bodies of water. Unless you are a trained individual in the field of... I guess... jumping off of things... don't.

Man Survives Fall Off Ambassador Bridge Into Detroit River

Recently, a man working on the Ambassador Bridge from the US to Canada over the Detroit River took a plunge himself. He was a contractor who was working on the bridge when he fell nearly 150 feet into the river.

"The force of the impact had ripped most of his clothes off of him. His work boots were still on him and his pants were around his ankles and he had his T-shirt on."

Sam Buchanan told Fox 2 Detroit that he was on a Detroit mail delivery boat when he saw the unidentified man fall into the water. He turned his boat to rescue him from the water. Paramedics took over, and likely saved his life.

"We were relieved that he could talk to us, but he was pretty out of it. He kept asking us what happened to him and we told him that he fell off the bridge."

 

Can You Survive A Fall From The Mackinac Bridge?

The Ambassador Bridge is 150 feet over the Detroit River, and had this man fallen in perfect form, he might have come out of it in better shape... but then again, who knows. It's such a risk.

Michigan's most famous bridge, the Mackinac Bridge, is roughly the same height above the Mackinac Straits, about 155 feet at its highest above the water. So given the fact that this man who fell off the Ambassador Bridge survived, it's TECHNICALLY possible to survive a fall from the Mighty Mac.

But it would feel like a car crash, and we all know how dangerous those are.

At 150 feet in the air, even if you were wearing a pointed "hat" to reduce the water tension, and you went in head first... you'd still be hitting the water at 66 mph (which is speeding on the Mackinac Bridge). You'd likely have all of your clothes ripped from your body, too.

The biggest risk, though, even if you survived the fall, would be drowning. At that speed, and that big of an impact, it's very likely your body would go into shock, and knock you out. You wouldn't be aware enough to swim to the surface for air.

Falling from 150 feet is similar to falling from a 12- or 15-story building. And God forbid, you don't get your body pointed correctly, and belly flop on the water, it would be like landing on concrete.

So COULD you survive? Maybe.

But it seems smarter to just... not... do that.