Ever feel so bored in traffic that you envisioned getting out of your car and jumping off a bridge? This might be a funny image in your mind, but surely nothing you'd do in person. Unless your name happens to be Jimmy Ivan Jennings.
Jimmy reportedly was stuck in traffic for hours on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge in Louisiana after an accident. Instead of listening to music or scrolling on his phone while his car was in park, Jimmy chose to do something else. He figured he might as well jump 100 feet off the bridge to better get to his destination, leaving his car there to cause more backup.
It might not have been the best move of all time. But miraculously, Jimmy survived and lived to tell the tale. And even stranger, there's video footage to back this up.
After the jump, Jimmy spoke to the Daily News and admitted that he almost didn't survive. "I started going under and almost drowned a few times. I really and truly thought it was the end of my time," he said. It seems as if his brain caught up with his actions while he was mid-fall.
"I asked God for forgiveness," the 26-year-old admitted. "I forgave everyone in my life. It was hectic." In a way, it seemed like a jump that was meant to be comedic ended up changing his life forever, reminding him of all the reasons why it's important to stay alive. He admits now that the plan wasn't well thought out.
In his plan, he didn't think about the possibility of drowning or not surviving. Instead, he planned to jump in, swim to the shore, and meet up with his friend at the next exit. He admits that based on boredom, the plan seemed more logical before it was actually executed.
"We were bored inside the truck," he said. "I looked down (at the water), and it didn't seem too far. As soon as my fingertips came off that side, I was like, 'Oh my god, this was the stupidest idea.'" His friend Khory Vaughan was there to videotape. It's not clear as to whether or not Khory was going to continue waiting in the jam with the vehicle, but it seems like the likely plan.
In the moment, he felt like it was something that was done before. "I was just high on life everything was going my way and I've seen people do it before only I remembered after I jump(ed) that was in movies," he reportedly told Facebook. As a reminder, Jimmy got pretty lucky — these things mostly happen in movies for a reason.
He was down there much longer than the video made it seem. And the impact of the 100-foot fall did leave him with some severe injuries. "Once I hit the water, my mouth busted open and I hurt my left arm," he said. "I tried to swim to the shore, but the current was too strong."
From that distance, he no longer had the support of his friend or anyone still on the bridge. He was swimming even longer than expected while down there. "An hour and a half in, I was so tired of swimming," he admitted. "My left arm went out." It's hard to imagine how terrifying it is to know this might be the end.
When he reached the shore, he realized he had made it onto an island. But the police were on the lookout for him. Shortly after his trip back to land, the police arrested him. "They got me with criminal mischief and some other charges," a sullen Jimmy said.
Fortunately for Jimmy, the error of his ways came just moments after making that leap. "It was crazy to do what I did. But after the fact, after realizing it was a bad idea, everything else I did was in pure survival mode," he said. The incident has reportedly also changed his entire viewpoint of swimming. One quick decision changed his life in plenty of unexpected ways.
Those who witnessed Jimmy's jump can't believe he survived — and also can't believe that he even thought to make the jump in the first place. "Dude's a moron," one YouTuber wrote in the video comments. "It's hard to have sympathy for this idiot. Traffic was already bad enough, then police had to use their resources to find him."
Another can't believe that he chose to openly risk his life when he admitted that his life was in a really great place. "So life is great. Everything is going your way. So then you decide to throw your life away for no reason?!??!" they wrote. "I…I can't."
While traffic and boredom may have sparked this idea in his head, surely Jimmy has learned a huge lesson. He's very lucky to be alive to tell his story, and it's good that he admits that the most terrifying parts of it didn't happen to go viral. Even his eventual arrest sounds scary.
"They all had their guns on me," Jimmy admitted. "They were telling me to 'get on the ground, get on the ground.' So I got on the ground, listened to them, and they put me handcuffs."
Next time you get impatient with traffic, think of Jimmy. He's living proof that there are much worse things to deal with.
