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Man who tried to get himself eaten by a giant anaconda on purpose explains why he did it
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A man who attempted to get eaten alive by a giant anaconda has revealed why he chose to do it.
Paul Rosolie, a devoted conservationist, set out to do the unthinkable: get swallowed alive by a giant snake.
Rosolie is an explorer and wildlife enthusiast who has dedicated years to studying the complexities of the Amazon rainforest, and in 2014, he came up with a plan to raise global awareness about the decline of habitats in a documentary for the Discovery Channel.
The controversial film, which was titled Eaten Alive, saw Rosolie head out to the remote part of the Amazon and track down a green anaconda - the largest and heaviest snake in the world.
Then, he attempted to get the snake to eat him alive.
Rosolie wore a carbon fiber suit, which had been reinforced to withstand the anaconda's powerful grip as it coiled around him.
The suit also came equipped with its own oxygen supply and cameras to record every moment of this unprecedented encounter.
Watch the moment below:
Unfortunately, the stunt didn't go entirely to plan. The snake lunged and trapped Rosolie, coiling around his body and squeezing him with immense pressure.
Rosolie told his team: “I'm getting coils over me... She's got my arms pinned. She knows there's nothing I can do," per Daily Mail.
As the 20-foot long, 18-stone snake tightened its grip, Rosolie's body reacted with distress. His heart raced, and breathing became difficult, but the protective suit kept him safe.
As the enormous snake started to constrict tighter and latched onto his head, he had to call for help, saying: "Stand by guys, I'm starting to feel like she's consuming me. Guys, my face is down. I'm calling it, I need help!"
His team rushed in and managed to wrestle the snake off him before he was fully consumed.
Reflecting on the potentially deadly encounter in a follow-up interview, Rosolie admitted: “She nailed me right in the face and the last thing I saw was her mouth wide open before everything went black,” cited by The Independent.
“And then she wrapped me and I felt the suit cracking and my arms ripping out of their sockets. It was absolutely terrifying.
"The last thing I remember was her mouth open wide and everything went black. I went limp and let it constrict. All the while I was just thinking: 'Eat, eat, eat!'"
He revealed that he felt compelled to take part in the stunt to draw attention to the plight of the Amazon rainforest, explaining: "I wanted to do something that would sort of shock people and force a dialogue about what’s going on here - and it’s working."
The stunt, featured on the Discovery Channel's series Eaten Alive, was intended as a "massive fundraiser to protect the rainforest," according to Rosolie. His organization, Junglekeepers, claims to have protected over 77,000 acres of Amazonian habitat, where these giant snakes reside.
He added that others had "tried everything else" to raise awareness for the need for conservation in the area, and this experiment tapped into people's inherent fear of snakes to grab their attention for the cause.