A 56-year-old man died soon after completing the second-highest bungee jump, the Hong Kong-based outlet HK01 reported Monday.
The unnamed Japanese tourist was “short of breath” after the jump from the Macau Tower in Macau Special Administrative Region, China, the report noted. His breath and pulse ceased and he was transported to a hospital but could not be resuscitated, the report noted.
The 61-floor Macau Tower, a telecommunications facility, is 338 m (1,109 ft) tall and was built in 2001, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The tower is a popular tourist attraction for bungee-jumping enthusiasts, as its bungee platform is 233 m (764 ft) high, the travel website Manawa noted.
Tourist, 56, dies after completing world’s highest bungee jump as he plunged 764ft from Macau Towerhttps://t.co/Eo45b8xVg6 https://t.co/Eo45b8xVg6
— The US Sun (@TheSunUS) December 4, 2023
Bungee jumping — with its high-speed fall and sudden deceleration — is a high-adrenaline activity potentially risky for older people and those with chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity, HK01 reported.
“You can have a sudden burst of blood vessel or something like that,” Xiao Yuezhong, a specialist in emergency medicine, told HK01. People with severe myopia also risked retinal detachment should they go bungee jumping, he added, per HK01.
He recommended medical examinations, saying it “needs to be done on an individual basis, and the doctor will make recommendations based on individual circumstances,” per HK01. (RELATED: Bungee-Jumper Plummets 164 Feet To Her Death After Leaping Off Bridge Without Fastened Cord)
The New Zealand entrepreneur and founder of AJ Hackett Bungy, Alan John Hackett, made the highest commercial bungee jump in the world from the bungee platform in the Macau Tower in 2006. He previously jumped off the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, in a publicity stunt in 1987. Arrested and later released, he popularized the sport, an AJ Hackett Bungy blog post noted.