Death-Defying Fourth of July

By Johnna Pinholster

July 05, 2009 12:39 am

— VALDOSTA — Death-defying feats and mile high fireworks entertained guests at Wild Adventures Saturday.
The All–American Weekend event, co-hosted by The Valdosta Daily Times, brought thousands out to the park.
Magician Aaron Radatz provided the thrills on Saturday by attempting to escape from a wooden box submerged underwater before the fireworks in a performance called “Freedom: An Underwater Escape.”
A large crowd gathered as Radatz, a Las Vegas entertainer, recreated the underwater escape first made famous by Harry Houdini more than 80 years ago.
Standing on a platform by the park’s lake, Radatz, dressed in a wet-suit, began the performance by being handcuffed.
With his hands securely behind his back, Radatz’s assistants locked a chain around his neck and then wrapped it around his arms and body.
Radatz said he does not perform this trick often because of its difficulty.
The wooden box Radatz was placed in has been on display at the park for two weeks, allowing people to check out its soundness and write on it.
As screams from adjacent roller coasters echoed across the lake, Radatz was padlocked into the wooden box.
Once inside, the chain attached to Radatz was fed through holes in the box, wrapped around the box and attached to it.
Inside the box, Radatz only had a paper-clip to help him undo the locks and handcuffs.
The master of ceremonies for the event, Chris Hart, asked Radatz if he had any final thoughts before being placed into the lake.
“Do not try this at home,” was Radatz’s reply.
Radatz, Hart said, has been preparing for this performance for two weeks and in a rehearsal run on Saturday morning escaped in two minutes and 10 seconds.
With the box firmly locked, a crane lifted the box more than 20 feet in the air and then lowered it into the water.
Holes were drilled into the box to let it fill with water and to keep the box from collapsing inwards from water pressure.
Weights, totaling 300 pounds, were attached to the bottom of the box to help it sink.
Once in the lake the countdown to Radatz’s escape began.
Scuba divers stood on the platform’s ledge as the minutes ticked by, on call to help Radatz if needed.
As the audience waited, Hart counted the minutes. Paramedics were on standby in case the performance did not go as planned.
Just as Hart began to get worried for Radatz’s safety, he appeared out of the water to hearty cheers.
The escape took Radatz two minutes and 31 seconds.
Afterward the crowd was regaled with fireworks from Pyro Shows. Both the underwater escape and fireworks show will be performed again tonight at Wild Adventures.

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