This is utterly terrifying.
A Russian fitness instructor’s cliff-diving adventure turned into an absolute nightmare, and, heartbreakingly, it was all captured on camera by his distressed wife.
On Thursday, Daniil Garagin, 30, and his wife Darya Gagarina traveled with their friend, Emma Mönkkönen, also a fitness instructor, to a stretch of cliffs known as La Zorra Cove along the Costa Blanca in Spain (not the cliff pictured above). Once there, Daniil jumped off and made it back up the cliff to a chorus of cheers… but things took a turn for the worse when Emma leaped off the ledge.
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In the video, shot by Daniil’s wife, just 24, Mönkkönen, also 24, is seen making a jump into rough waters below. All goes seemingly well until she attempts to climb back up the jagged cliffside. When a huge wave knocks her back into the water, she seems to lose her bearings and needs help to make it back to dry land.
As Darya begins to swear in Russian, her husband reassures her everything will be okay as he enters the water to rescue his friend. Darya attempts to do all she can while remaining on land, appearing to make it to the waterline while calling out:
“Danila, I’m coming! Hold on to her!”
Her husband is able to clamber on top of a rock while holding onto Emma for a moment — but then Darya sees another monstrous wave heading their way, leading the videographer to yell:
“A huge wave is coming… F**k! Hold her!”
Tragically, that large wave was forceful enough to take out both fitness instructors. Once the wave cleared, they were gone. The sole adventurer was left crying:
“Danny! F**k! Danila, no!”
With the help of authorities, Emma’s body was discovered about two miles away from the original jumping destination while Daniil wasn’t recovered until the next day by a search-and-rescue team. You can see the full viral clip (below); be aware, while it may not be graphic, it is certainly a difficult watch knowing the tragic outcome:
В Испании девушка прыгнула со скалы, пытаясь повторить подвиг друга из России, — её унесло волной. Парень бросился на помощь, но погиб. Всё это снимала его жена
Данила Гагарин работал тренером в Торревьехе. Часто ходил на берег Коста-Бланка, супруга снимала, как он прыгает. pic.twitter.com/QdnRIYb5Qn
— Mash (@mash_breaking) September 27, 2021
The truly heartbreaking footage went viral on social media, first appearing on the popular messaging app Telegram on Monday. The clip caught the attention of many in Russia, including the Garagin family who still resides there. They are now desperately trying to secure emergency visas to travel to Spain to be there for his cremation on Thursday.
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That could be a challenge given coronavirus and the likelihood that their vaccines (presumably the Russian-made Sputnik V, though it was not specified) will be rejected by the Spanish government, his mother Elena told local outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets:
“Our vaccines aren’t accepted there. We’re like outcasts.”
Speaking about her child with REN TV, she described Daniil as a “professional sportsman” and a “man of the sea,” adding of he and his wife:
“They are both fitness trainers, so they were always testing their strength and capabilities.”
Cliff-diving was a favorite pastime of his as well, a friend named Artyom told Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda:
“Danya jumped from that cliff every summer like a man possessed. He took the risk, but he liked that adrenaline.”
The married couple moved to Spain three years ago from a suburb of Moscow. They were both fitness instructors in Torrevieja, where Daniil reportedly liked to show off videos of his jumps to clients, which helps explain why his wife continued to film throughout the catastrophe.
Meanwhile, according to her social media profiles, Mönkkönen moved to the area from Helsinki, Finland. She taught yoga, aqua gym, and senior fitness classes her company dubbed “granny exercise.”
Some of Daniil’s ashes will be scattered in the sea while the rest get split between Gagarina and his family. Darya has not commented on the tragedy publicly. That said, her last social media post on the morning of the cliff-diving trip is truly harrowing to look back on now, as she wrote on Instagram:
“The wind is strong, the waves are strong, it’s time to jump.”
Wow… Such a devastating loss for these families. We’ll be thinking of them as they mourn their loved ones. R.I.P.
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