Man who tried to get eaten alive by snake recalls moment he was ‘inches away from ribcage exploding’
You may have seen a lot about this man recently, and it's all to do with a clip that did the rounds back in 2014.
But here we are, 10 years later, still talking about the viral clip from an episode of Discovery Channel series Eaten Alive - in it, a man willingly chooses to be eaten alive by a snake.
Just minutes in, he calls it as part of his head begins to be consumed.
But why did he do it, and what were his intentions?
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Paul Rosolie was born in Brooklyn, New York - that's right, right in the heart of the concrete jungle.
But the nature lover knew that the city life was never for him, mentioning the common conception of being 'stuck in the Matrix', being devoid of anything real as he felt trapped in the American city.
Since moving away from the Big Apple, Paul has spent almost 20 years working with indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest with one goal: "To protect the last truly wild places on the planet," he begins to explain to LADbible.
When asked about what he does, he said that his life involves 'spending most of the year asleep outdoors', as he lives in deep parts of the remote Amazon rainforest with all types of wildlife and animals we can only imagine.
Currently in a mining town in Peru, he said that contracting companies from overseas are bulldozing into the rainforest, 'ripping the guts out' of the 'last pristine places' on Earth.
"I've had rare diseases that were cured in the Amazon by indigenous people"
When asked about what he enjoys most about what he does, he highlighted that he loves living in deep wilderness, before heaping praise on his friend, JJ.
"This guy, JJ, Julio Duran is the visionary indigenous conservationist that started all this. He's the one that trained me. He's my Peruvian Mr. Miyagi.
He also highlighted that there may be cures for diseases within the roots of these plants, saying he had illnesses 'destroying' his body that were only cured by the medicinal plants brought by the indigenous people.
Along with showering in a river, hunting fish for his meals, avoiding stingrays and piranhas, Paul says there are a number of things he enjoys about living in the wild.
"The truth is, we grew up as a species in nature and so when you return to nature, you tend to feel better," he adds.
We also spoke to Paul about the viral video in question, which he insists is a tiny thing he has done in the grand scheme of everything he aims to achieve.
"I came inches away, moments away from having my ribcage explode"
When asked if he felt in danger or near death while filming, he answered: "On TV, no, because it was with the Discovery Channel.
"So, they had people around, they had an ambulance and doctors and we had plenty of people to stand by in case something happened," he explained.
The wildlife expert also praised the team around him, including those that created the 'very well made' suit that protected him.
It is known that Paul searched for the right anaconda to carry the stunt out with, but it turns out that during the search, he encountered a particularly aggressive 14-foot anaconda and found himself in a tricky situation.
"I did get wrapped with no suit, no protection," he revealed.
Paul continued: "One time I got wrapped. And when you catch an anaconda you have to secure the head, so I had secured the head, and this thing's head is big, it's a huge reptile head with 200 teeth in it."
He also explained the predator's gruelling method of killing its prey: "They lock your wrists together first and then the next coil comes over your shoulder. So I actually almost had my shoulders touch.
"And I came inches away, moments away from having my ribcage explode. And JJ, my friend, saved my life," the researcher said.
Paul highlighted that snakes can constrict jaguars, an animal much bigger than us, so it wouldn't be a problem for them to ingest him.
"I couldn't even call for help. It was terrifying."
"They can take anything.
"Every time you exhale, you never get that space back, you never take that breath in again. So you exhale and the snake squeezes, and then when you try to breathe in, there's nothing. And so I couldn't even call for help. It was terrifying."
We asked him if he would ever carry out a similar stunt again, to which he answered: "I mean, predators are very good at at predating, they've had millions of years to protect."
Focusing specifically on the anaconda though, he said that if he were to catch a massive anaconda again today, he would either 'make sure that I had a team with me or not catch it.'
Fair to say that he has learnt his lesson after two too-close-for-comfort encounters.
"When I was new to this, I would just run in and grab them and go, I'll figure it out. You can't just figure it out. They could kill you in 30 seconds, you could be dead," Paul said.
Anacondas can weight well over 100kg according to the man himself, so it might be worth steering clear of the species, which he claimed he has also seen kill a wild boar in less than a minute.
We finally asked if he had one final message for the public, and Paul gave a powerful statement.
"Animals exist on Earth for their own reasons and we're not the only species here. That's a very important reality to understand.
"Indigenous people are fighting with their lives to protect the Amazon rainforest, because they understand what everyone else is forgotten that without ecosystems, if you can't breathe the air and drink the water, nothing else you're interested in is going to happen."
He urged people to help him stop people from destroying these ecosystems, and all the unique species of trees and animals that have been there for thousands of years.
"That's why I'm down here. That's why I would do something as suicidal as even claimed to try and be eaten by an anaconda," he concluded.
If you want to help Paul on his mission and join the indigenous effort to protect the Amazon, you can visit www.junglekeepers.org.
Topics: Environment, Animals, World News, Weird, Viral
Joshua Nair