A man who was banned from Royal Caribbean Cruises after jumping into the ocean from his 11th-floor balcony hopes his actions donât inspire others.
Last week, 27-year-old Nick Naydev of Vancouver, Washington, posted a video on Instagram showing him taking one small leap for a man and one giant jump of stupidity. He plummeted 100 feet into shark-infested waters.
Amazingly, he wasnât seriously injured but said he could âbarely walkâ for three days afterward, according to The Washington Post.
The main damage was financial: Naydev and his friends were kicked off the cruise in the Bahamas, and he had to shell out $200 for a plane ticket home from Nassau, the Post said.
The 10-second stunt led the cruise line to ban Naydev and his friends for life, according to a statement Royal Caribbean gave to âInside Editionâ:
âThis was stupid and reckless behavior, and he and his companions have been banned from ever sailing with us again. We are exploring legal action.â
Naydev told âInside Editionâ that he didnât really think about the risks before taking that leap of logic.
âNothing was really going through my mind. Iâm like, âI gotta do this,â and just two seconds later, I just jumped and didnât really think it through,â he admitted.
Not surprisingly, alcohol may have been involved.
âThe previous night we were drinking quite a bit, so I was still feeling the effects of the alcohol,â he added.
Now, a week later, Naydev worries that his reckless jump may inspire copycats.
âI hope I donât inspire anybody to do this because it is very dangerous,â he said. âI mean, donât think this is a joke.â
However, the man who recorded Naydevâs jump told Yahoo! that heâs disappointed in how Royal Caribbean handled the incident, though he seems not to get the point.
âHeâs jumped from those kind of heights before, and we didnât really care about the consequences with the cruise company,â he explained. âWe just wanted to get a video of it and make it go viral.â