TikTok influencer nearly drowns after getting trapped under ice while filming video
A social media influencer has opened up about how he nearly drowned while filming a video for TikTok.
On Monday, Jason Clark shared a clip on Instagram showing him getting trapped underneath a sheet of ice on a frozen lake.
The idea was that he would swim in the freezing water on camera as part of a stunt for his followers.
But as the video shows, Clark struggled to retrace his strokes underwater and remained underneath the ice for much longer than planned, consequently causing his eyeballs to temporarily “freeze”.
“I have never been this close to dying,” Clark wrote in the caption.
“I didn’t think my eyeballs would freeze so quick. The surface of the water where the hole was didn’t look any different than the bottom of the ice,” he continued.
“When I flipped around and felt solid ice I thought I was at the hole. When I wasn’t that’s when I decided to head back and follow the dust I kicked up.
"The dust I kicked up had drifted and led me further away. I then tried to break the ice with my back, you can see in the video. I don’t know what made me turn around one last time.”
A post shared by Jason Clark (@jasontodolist) on Feb 24, 2020 at 6:24am PST
Clark wrote that he was “so short on breath” and could no longer see anything.
“I had accepted that was it and I wasn’t going to make it,” he added.
“I swung my hand at what I thought was just a lighter spot of ice and my hand came through. I then got a ton of energy to stand up. It took two to three breaths to regain my vision after resurfacing.”
Despite the incident, Clark swam underneath the ice for a second time. In a subsequent Instagram post, Clark shared a video of the experience, explaining that it “went a little better”.
“You have to try it twice!” he wrote in the caption for the video, which showed he was wearing goggles.
“Added a little more safety,” Clark continued. “The exit hole is almost comically big.”
Clark’s videos of swimming underneath the ice have been viewed more than 200,000 times on Instagram, with thousands of followers commenting underneath sharing their concerns for him.
“I’m glad you made it, but holy s*** was this asking for trouble,” wrote one person.
Another added: “Please be wise at making decisions and please don’t do anything like this that could risk your life, I’m happy you made it out but this video was crazy.”
