After downing ten pints of beer, one man decided it was a good idea to travel down the escalators by sliding down the chute in the middle.
His plan, however, backfired spectacularly.
Freddie Andrews, 22, from Tonbridge, Kent was filmed bouncing off an emergency stop button before he bounded down into the stairs at the bottom in front of a surprised commuter.
The wincing footage shows Andrews, who had just come from the pub, leaping onto the metal chute between the two escalators while his friends laughed hysterically in the background.
“I was that drunk—I’d had about 10 pints—the escalator was free and I thought, ‘why not?’” Andrews told the Evening Standard.
Ouch ????
Posted by London Evening Standard on Friday, December 22, 2017
“It was faster than I thought it would have been. But as I was sliding I couldn’t stop myself and had no choice.
“I did regret it,” he added.
His friend James Gower filmed the stunt and posted it on Twitter.
“Top night last night, but this has to be the highlight,” he wrote.
Top night last night, but this has to be the highlight ??? pic.twitter.com/yMqDvOoVML
— James Gower (@__gower) December 21, 2017
His failed prank went viral and has been viewed nearly 13 million times as of Dec. 22.
Andrews told the Standard that he didn’t “feel a thing” until he woke up the following day, and found he couldn’t move.
“My family think I was an idiot. But now it’s happened they think it’s really funny,” he said. “I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else though.”
The tweet has gathered about 7,000 comments in 21 hours.
One person, called ellie on Twitter, commented: “literally cant stop watching… can’t breathe.”
literally cant stop watching agsgahaha cany breathe
— ellie (@lisawicz) December 22, 2017
David Lammy MP reacted to the video writing: “MIND THE GAP.”
MIND THE GAPhttps://t.co/k7yUAYQJMS
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) December 22, 2017
Actor John Barrowman tweeted: “What an idiot but too funny.”
OMG I’m pissing myself. What an idiot but too funny. JB https://t.co/ob8sTfHTyH
— John Barrowman MBE (@JohnBarrowman) December 21, 2017
In an interview with the Sun, Andrews said: “It wasn’t planned, it was a one off because there was no one else on the escalator, so I thought I would chance it.”
“The gentleman asked me if I was OK and I said yes and went on my way,” he said.
Transport for London has since warned against any copycat pranksters.
“Safety is our top priority and pranks like this are dangerous for not only those involved but also to other customers,” a TfL spokesman told The Telegraph.
He also described Andrews as an “idiot.”
The spokesman added, “We have frequent PA announcements reminding customers to be careful when using escalators, and we also run safety campaigns throughout the year to encourage customers to take care whilst traveling on our network.”
Very bad idea
Posted by NTD Television on Friday, December 22, 2017
From The Epoch Times