Doctor Reacts To Circus Emergencies

The psychological torture and trauma orcas go through in captivity is utterly abhorrent. It's telling that, in captivity, there have been multiple fatal attacks, while a human being has never been harmed by one in the wild. These highly intelligent and social animals basically lose their minds in places like SeaWorld from the horrors they endure for decades at our hands.

The fact that Seaworld didn’t stop orca acts not just for the sake of the orcas but also for the trainers is unforgivable. The fact that they didn’t immediately give up and decide it was too dangerous for trainers and too stressful for the animals after the first incident is downright disgusting.

The last video is mindblowing. The fact that they get the crowd involve is crazy. What a better way to get sued and close your circus forever. I cant believe nobody saw that coming.

I was there for the Rhode Island incident, when the acrobats hanging by their hair fell. Took my little sister and we had front row seats. I remember the audience had no idea what happened at first. We thought the drop was part of the act. Then they turned the lights off and asked us not to leave our seats. The circus staff was great and sent clowns into the audience to distract the kids while the ambulances did their thing. Between the circus, meeting a clown, and getting to see an ambulance, my sister thought it was the best day ever.

The group high wire fall is a classic example of experience causing safety complacency. A less experienced tightrope walker would request a safety net because they aren’t very confident in what they are doing and are more afraid of the danger, while the experienced tightrope walker has done it so many times that they think they couldn’t possibly make a mistake.

In the Ken Peters incident, they cite his survival to the fact that he was an experienced free diver, so every time he came up he was able to breathe efficiently and keep his heart rate down throughout the entire situation (she dragged him down far more than two times, to the bottom of the tank, for longer each dive.) Petes got out because he coincidentally had unrelated hobbies. Terrifying.

Next, it's time for the horrors of amusement parks!

I have had my face smashed in a waterslide, bruised my entire right side of the torso on a spinning ride, nearly been thrown out of a ride, and watch several people get injured in a simulator...

Man the fact that most circus professionals survived the injury is surprising to me

As a professional circus artist currently out with a back injury… this video was amazingly painful to watch lol

5:50 - One thing that wasn't commented on was that there were TWO of them circling around inside that frame. Once the one crashed at the bottom and caught fire, that leaves the other one stuck circling because the only way down/out is blocked by the accident. How scary is THAT?! He's got to keep going full tilt until the fire is out and probably the other bike is cleared out.

Acrobatics and stunt work can be extremely dangerous. I remember Cirque du Soleil changing their rules on safety lines and netting after a fatality and numerous injuries.

I’m so glad you covered both shamu and kastka. Seaworld are the problem. The last straw of trainers being in the water was dawn. Orcas are so extremely intelligent and the fact that they are treated like this are disgusting. there are videos of them smashing their heads into the wall. Truly disturbing and sad to see them suffering in captivity.

Well I didn’t watch most of this. I was mostly covering my mouth and eyes at the sight of the injuries. I am now convinced that the circus is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world

edit: I meant to put mouth and eyes, but stupid auto correction and there was no need for correction on it

I'm always grateful when a circus performer uses a safety harness or net as a backup in case of a fall. Barnum and Bailey circus came through recently and they had nets underneath the trapeze performers and they don't use animals anymore.
Having safety in place doesn't make the act any less difficult or impressive. It should always be a priority when possible.

The way Doctor Mile was just predicting every injury 😂😂
He looked so proud of himself

4:47 Speaking of the strength of hair, they tested it on Mythbusters, they were testing alledged prison escapes, Kari made a rope out of hair and was successfully able to use it to climb down the side of a 3 story building. Just FYI, the other two: Grant used bed sheets and succeeded, Tori used toilet paper, his ripped and broke when he got to about a foot off the ground but he landed on his feet and it wasn't that high so they said "close enough".

9:00 That sort of looks like a professional wrestling move called the Spanish Fly, in that move, they hook up facing in opposite directions, and simulatenously flip, one doing a forward roll, the other doing a backflip, difficult to pull off and very dangerous.

The killer whale incidents are very controversial, there's a documentary film called Blackfish that talks about the effects being in captivity has on orcas, There was one in particular that attacked several other orcas and killed 3 trainers. SeaWorld in particular has taken a lot of criticism for it and has been losing millions for years due to the backlash. They were talking about ending the orca program and shows at their parks, but seems like they've flip flopped on that. Several states have banned having orcas in captivity now though.

It looked like an attempted assisted backflip for the last clip, but both the flipper and the assistant didn't know what they were doing. You barely need to do any lifting as the assistant, you just guide their legs over your shoulder, but the flipper splayed out, making his legs go over the guys face, and the guy didn't know to just move out of the way once the flipper's head was out from under to not be injured. Following that with a terrible carry was just a perfect video of what not to do.

Goodness! My late Daddy (lost him to cancer in 2007) always loved the circus. He always took us to Barnum and Bailey Circus when it was in town. ❤

Docter Mike, im a 13 year old with a panic disorder. You have inspired me to go to medical school and help people. I've been watching your videos for a few months now. Thank you for inspiring me! Keep up the amazing videos!!!

It will never cease to astound me on both how delicate the human body is, and, conversely, how durable it is.