Wim Hof couldn't jump off a bridge at first because his wife Olaja had died by suicide from an eight-story fall. Years later, he faced the fear directly and overcame it. Now he jumps from bridges regularly, describing the sensation as intense and childlike.
Chapters
Yeah, have a time, guys. Hey, Quinting! Yeah. Oh, Quinting, man. The way that all began. This was the first bridge and I could not do it the first time. I was not able to go from the bridge and jump, and I was all prepared because my wife, Olaja, the mother of my 4 children, she jumped from 8 stories down. And that made me— I could not. I was absolutely paralyzed. And I'm a guy who is climbing without gear rocks and going under the ice. I was blocked at that moment. This was 1 year or 2 years after she died. No, not even 5 years after. 5 years after, it was still, of course, there. This thought of how, how she jumped down. And that is too much to, to handle inside. And that trauma came to life there at the bridge. Though the first time I was not able to do anything. It's a big swing. Feel like a child, man. Here I had overcome the whole thing. And so then it's okay. Then it's going to be playful. And since then I've done it hundreds of times in many bridges and in different ways and all. But in those days, this was very unknown. We began to do this shit, all of us, me and my friend. We calculated the door. You know, like mathematics. You're almost touching. Yeah, yeah, almost touching the water. You see that? Yeah, it's a— it's quite an experience.
