TODAY Show Sounds Alarm on Deadly Boat Jumping Challenge Viral Trend

A viral trend on TikTok called “boat jumping” has left four people dead, prompting Today Show to air a feature with stern warnings from officials about the dangers.

The trend involves people jumping off the back of a speeding boat but officials in Alabama say four people have died after participating in the stunt. As reported by The Today Show on Monday, the deaths have reportedly occurred over the last six months.

“The four that we responded to when they jumped off of the boat, they literally broke their neck. And, you know, basically an instant death,” said Captain Jim Dennis of the Alabama Association Rescue Squad.

Experts say hitting water at a high rate of speed is almost like hitting a wall of concrete. Gail Kulp of the Sea Tow foundation said that some people participating in the trend could end up hitting the propeller of the boat as well.

“The water at a moving boat is like hitting concrete from jumping multiple stories up, so it’s really, really dangerous,” Kulp said. “You can wind up with broken bones, a broken neck, or you could end up running into the propeller of your own boat, or another boat could run over you, and that would cause lots of damage, if not death.”

The challenge is not new. The Today Show reported that videos as early as 2020 have been found exhibiting the same deadly stunt.

Although TikTok itself has not endorsed the challenge, that hasn’t stopped users from participating. The company has taken steps to warn users of the dangers of the trend by showing content warnings before the videos play saying, “participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.”