VANCOUVER -- Vancouver police are condemning a risky stunt involving a downtown bridge that was recorded and posted online.
The video shows someone backflipping off of the Cambie Bridge into False Creek, a high-traffic waterway frequented by passenger ferries and recreational users. The same social media account includes video of another dangerous leap from the tower at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver last fall.
Sgt. Steve Addison with the Vancouver Police Department called the behaviour reckless.
“It’s not smart,” he said. “I understand that with the proliferation of TikTok and Instagram there’s all kinds of people out there who are trying to get themselves noticed, to become TikTok famous, and they’re doing stunts like this, but it really is dangerous.”
Addison said there’s not only a risk to marine traffic passing below, but also to the person making the leap.
“Hitting that water, it’s very cold. Your limbs can freeze up, you start gasping for air,” he said. “The water itself in False Creek, we all know isn’t the cleanest. I certainly wouldn’t want to be drinking that.”
He added there could also be unseen hazards under the water.
“There’s all kinds of debris under there,” he said. “For example, there’s a sailboat that caught fire under here not long ago...the boat sank and it hasn’t been salvaged yet.”
False Creek Ferries operations manager Jeremy Patterson told CTV News he’s witnessed what can happen when risk-taking doesn’t end well.
He remembers seeing three men dive from the Burrard Bridge in the past, and said the jumps ended wth injuries.
“They were right in front of me and we called the Coast Guard,” he said. “The three guys I’m sure survived, but I’m sure it was not something they would ever want to do again.”
Patterson added the idea of someone accidentally hitting a ferry is their "worst nightmare."
“That would be very tragic,” he said. “When people try these things, they may overestimate their ability, or underestimate the drop, and we’ve seen the other outcome which is people getting into ambulances.”
While Sgt. Addison said there doesn’t appear to be anything criminal about this stunt, police don’t want to see it happen again.
“I can tell you it’s behaviour that we strongly discourage,” he said.
