In the wake of a recent report on the top 10 jobs that are most likely to result in death, we take a look at some unusual professions where you can risk your life for an adrenaline rush.
The “jobs that require fighting skills” is a job where the employees are not required to be safe. The “jobs that require fighting skills” are jobs such as professional fighters, stuntmen, and security guards.
Adrenaline-pumping, dangerous, and hazardous…
Not exactly what you’d seek for when looking for a career, but not everyone is satisfied with a routine 9-5 with no drama.
In fact, some employees seek out uncertainty to add to their resumes.
So, who are these folks who aren’t content with safe – and what drives them to take on a job that puts their lives at jeopardy? Each and every day.
We spoke with three professional thrill seekers to find out why they selected a job in peril.
‘Swimming with sharks is emotionally draining since things may go wrong at any moment.’
Samantha Symonds claims she definitely recalls regretting her choice to join Brunel University’s diving club after lowering herself into the depths of the frigid English seas.
She had never considered scuba diving until signing up for the adventurous club on a whim during her freshman year to meet new people.
‘I despised it,’ says the author. Samantha, aged 29, recalls her first dive, when her dry suit failed to keep her dry. ‘I was freezing and very wet.’ I requested a refund.’
Samantha told herself she’d continue with it until she got her diving certification, but she also vowed herself she’d never dive once she got her certification.
Samantha claims that in her line of work, making the incorrect judgment may be deadly. (Photo courtesy of Supplied)
‘However, the club took a vacation to Egypt towards the conclusion of the year,’ Samantha says. ‘The water was very clear and warm.’ We saw a lot of magnificent fish. It was then that I realized I like scuba diving, but only in warm water.’
Samantha completed her English degree at university and worked in marketing for a while, but she was eager to do more. So, after a few years behind a desk, Samantha traveled to Malaysia to enroll in a dive master school, which would allow her to teach others how to scuba dive.
Samantha believed both the job and the danger were worthwhile, even though making the wrong choice may have terrible implications.
‘When you’re diving, the pressure of the water surrounding you increases as you go deeper,’ she continues, resulting in more gases dissolving in your blood.
‘It indicates that oxygen builds up in your joints or brain.’ If you rise swiftly to the surface, your body’s bubbles may expand rapidly, causing decompression sickness (‘the bends’) or an air embolism in your lungs. It’s one of the most important things to keep in mind while diving.’
Following her training, she traveled to Thailand, Fiji, and Australia, where she taught scores of people how to dive in extremely unpredictable seas with even more variables that may result in damage or death.
Samantha explains why she is enthusiastic about teaching people to dive in open waters: ‘I wanted to make people feel comfortable underwater.’ ‘I’m fantastic at calming people down and helping them overcome their worries, which really makes them safer.’
Despite the dangers her pupils faced, she was certain that she could safely expose them to an unique underwater environment and help them overcome their phobias.
Samantha has worked in Fiji and Australia in order to pursue a profession as a shark swimmer. (Photo courtesy of Supplied)
She often met a threat that both terrified and thrilled her as she directed others through their dives — sharks.
Samantha explains, ‘They can smell a drop of blood and detect minuscule electrical impulses in the water, such as a heartbeat.’ ‘They are composed entirely of muscle because they must swim continuously to keep afloat.’ They also have very sharp teeth, with one row of teeth following the other, so that as the old teeth fall off, new sharp teeth are available to replace them. They’re essentially hunting and killing robots.’
Samantha dove into the sea to swim beside these old, gorgeous monsters.
Samantha travelled to Fiji to assist with a shark conservation initiative, undertaking scientific dives to gather data and feeding them, since she was fascinated by the beasts. She then relocated to Australia.
‘I worked in their oceanarium opposite the waterfront for Sydney Aquarium,’ she explains. ‘The shark tank was literally “floating” at sea level, and I used to take people shark diving.’
‘The first sharks I saw were tiny reef sharks,’ Samantha recalls from her first encounter with them in Thailand. ‘I thought I spotted fish swimming in the distance, but it turned out to be sharks.’ I had a flash of apprehension and felt a little jittery.’
Sharks move closer to examine when they sense anything strange in the water, even a human pulse. While reef sharks are not considered harmful to humans until provoked, there is the possibility of an unintentional ‘explorative bite’ that might cause catastrophic injury.
‘There were little sharks nearby and they were particularly active and eating on a night dive when I had seven divers with me,’ Samantha recalls, noting how worried she was to keep both herself and the divers in her care safe. ‘The sharks were all swimming up to my light, and I had to use my flashlight to physically shove them away.’
‘I’ve never regretted choosing this professional route; it’s been well worth the risk,’ Samantha adds (Picture: Supplied)
While things worked out in both cases, Samantha is well aware of how rapidly things may change. Sharks may readily hurt anything in the ocean, including people, whether mating, eating, or just exploring.
‘I once led a party of licensed divers aged 17 to conduct a bull shark dive 30 meters underneath the water surface,’ Sam remembers. The party was swimming down to a rock wall behind which they hoped to securely feed the notoriously dangerous bull sharks.
‘You should go straight down to the wall – it’s not a good idea to be floating in the middle of the water because sharks bite from below,’ Samantha explains. ‘However, the girl was taking a long time to get down, so I went to comfort and assist her.’ I could barely make out the silhouettes of the approaching bull sharks in the distance.’ Fortunately, Samantha and the child arrived at the rock wall before the sharks could inspect the ‘intruders.’
Samantha was informed after the dive by the dive master in charge of the whole dive exactly how perilous a scenario she had been in, being in open seas with one of the world’s most deadly sharks.
Samantha recalls feeling “shaken, introspective, and conflicted” as a result of the experience. ‘I saw how my two objectives – teaching people how to care after themselves safely while also providing them with insight into a magnificent other world under the waves – may often conflict. I found myself catastrophizing about what could’ve happened to a young girl after the encounter with the highschooler, but ultimately, it’s a tool so that I can learn, prepare ahead, and if a similar circumstance arises again.’
Despite the fact that the epidemic prompted Samantha to return to England, she intends to return and continue teaching others how to dive with sharks. ‘I’ll never regret choosing this job path,’ Samantha says. ‘I’ve seen and done incredible things that most people only dream about — it’s been well worth the danger.’ I couldn’t do it full-time again, however. It was physically and emotionally draining — things couldn’t possibly be alright. Nothing should happen while I’m watching. Because they are wild creatures, anything may happen. But facing your worries is so liberating — it makes you feel alive.’
‘As a bush pilot, I have to make around 40 life-or-death choices every day.’
Ryan Farran estimates he was approximately seven years old the first time he went on a bush flight.
He and his family were missionaries in Papua New Guinea at the time, assisting local communities with whatever they need.
‘Bush pilots are those that fly into the forest and land on airstrips that aren’t equipped with asphalt runways,’ Ryan adds.
It was a life-changing event for him, experiencing such a feeling of adventure and the freedom of being up in the sky. ‘At that point, I determined I wanted to be a pilot.’
After graduating from high school and relocating to the United States, Ryan pursued his ambition of becoming a pilot and began studying to fly aircraft. ‘I flew for almost a year and a half before becoming bored with it. It didn’t serve any function at all.’
‘It’s my way of helping others, and I truly like it,’ Ryan explains (Picture: Supplied)
So, for the following five years, Ryan and his wife trained as missionaries in the hopes of returning to Papua New Guinea and assisting the villages with whom he had spent years as a youngster.
‘We were nearing the conclusion of our training and decided to pay a visit to some aviation buddies,’ Ryan remembers. ‘They took me out for a ride, and I knew I wanted to get back into flying right away.’
In 2014, he and his wife realized their ambition of migrating to Papua New Guinea and flying into the jungle to distribute supplies to the locals – but Ryan quickly realized the duty came with additional hazards, including horribly stormy weather and treacherous terrain.
He continues, ‘I fly to hilly locations and low-lying marsh areas.’ ‘Flying for the first two years was really stressful. When you’ve completed your training and have been given permission to fly alone, you’re the only one who can make judgments in the air. As a consequence of it all, I suffered constant headaches.’
Ryan also had to deal with unpredictable tropical weather, muddy airstrips, landing locations meters from cliffs, and wind drafts that pushed the single-engine plane up and down. ‘They are all threats for which you have mentally prepared, but when they occur, you may not respond as you had anticipated.’
Ryan recounts an event that caused his adrenaline to rise in dread when he first began flying in Papua New Guinea. ‘I was approaching shore and the winds weren’t doing what I thought,’ he explains. ‘However, there was not enough space to turn around and safely exit the valley.’
Updrafts and downdrafts pounded the aircraft as Ryan tried to bring it under control before reaching the cliff, which was just a metre away. ‘Wow, it really made my legs tremble.’ ‘It was a nail-biter.’
According to Ryan, the stress of working as a bush pilot is seldom mentioned. (Image courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto.)
Ryan was flying in the mountains at a height of 18,000 feet when he encountered a cloud that produced a thick sheet of ice over the front of the aircraft. ‘If the aircraft has too much ice on it, it creates drag, and your propeller won’t be as effective,’ he adds. ‘My air speed plummeted almost instantly. It took 20 minutes of flying in the sun for it to melt off when I quickly turned around.’
Despite the fact that bush flying entails hazards that may easily result in a pilot and his passengers dying, Ryan claims that the job’s stress is seldom mentioned. He acknowledges, “I don’t believe bush pilots speak about our own personal worries a much.” ‘They want to project the image of someone who is supremely assured in all circumstances.’ Every day, though, we make an average of 40 life-threatening choices.’
After a few years of flying, Ryan was fatigued from the highs and lows of adrenaline he experienced on a daily basis. ‘At that moment, I realized I needed to make some adjustments so I wasn’t exhausted all of the time.’
He now plans his flights around the weather, happy to cancel flights if the weather seems to be too dangerous.
Despite the high pressure of the profession, Ryan claims that his three children and wife would never stop him from doing something he loves.
He responds, ‘They don’t even become anxious for me.’ ‘When I came home agitated, my wife would just urge me to go perform some wheelies on my motorbike.’ It’s comforting to have someone who believes in what you’re doing.’
Ryan claims that he wouldn’t choose any other work, despite the fact that he is still in risk on a regular basis. ‘There’s a reason I do it,’ he explains. ‘It’s my way of giving back to the community, and I like it.’
‘When people are fatigued, they make errors.’
Due to the heights attained and strong tools employed, tree surgery is one of the most hazardous jobs in the world, with a significant risk of injury and death.
In the previous ten years, 24 tree surgeons have died on the job in the United Kingdom, while almost 1,400 have been injured. However, in a nation where trees need to be cut and trimmed, it’s a vocation that many people choose to pursue.
Jack Bath yearned for an outdoor experience since his boyhood in Bournemouth, where he explored woods and beaches.
Working as a tree surgeon, according to Jack, is a risky profession (Picture: Supplied)
He joined the Royal Marines when he was 17 years old and served for six years before serving in anti-piracy aboard a ship cruising across the Indian Ocean. ‘I’ve never been much of an office person,’ admits the 33-year-old.
When he got engaged to his future bride, however, he realized that his never-ending days of travel had to come to a stop.
“The Royal Marines paid for my resettlement in higher education,” Jack adds, “so I began looking at what programmes might be available.” ‘I knew I wanted to work outside and for myself,’ says the author.
Tree surgery seemed like a good match – it was outdoors, paid well, offered plenty of adventure, and the training was completely supported by the Marines – but Jack hadn’t considered its reputation as a dangerous profession. ‘It wasn’t on my radar when I picked it,’ he says, ‘but I rapidly found it was a really hazardous career.’
Jack’s days had been drama-free for the first three years in the position, but one day, as he was climbing his last tree of the day, the wind unexpectedly increased up pace.
‘I was using a method called step cutting,’ Jack adds, where you make a 50 percent cut from both sides of the branch with a half-inch space in between, allowing you to break the branch off with both hands in a controlled manner.
‘However, while I was making my second cut, the branch snapped backwards, colliding with my saw and knocking it towards my breast.’
Jack’s pulse raced as he considered all of the accident’s possibilities. ‘The chain snatched my sleeve and yanked it up to my armpit. Thankfully, he had a torn sleeve instead of a ripped chest. ‘I was quite fortunate not to sustain any injuries.’
‘Lifting your own body weight up and down the tree all day takes a toll on climbers’ bodies,’ says one climber. (Photo courtesy of Supplied)
‘Tree surgery is about being vigilant at all times,’ Jack continues, saying that although there are protections in place to protect tree surgeons – whom he refers to as climbers – accidents may occur if they get physically exhausted or cut shortcuts. ‘When people start reaching, extending, and hanging, branches may shatter, throwing the saw up in the air, and it can fall and smack you in the face,’ he explains. ‘It’s when people are exhausted that they make blunders.’
Jack recalls an occasion in which one of his coworkers was involved in a near-fatal accident. ‘He was probably 40 feet in the air with just one point of connection,’ Jack explains.
Climbers should have two points of connection while cutting trees so that if one rope breaks or comes loose, the other holds him tight. ‘He sliced through the rope and landed flat on his face on the concrete.’ His pelvis, femur, both legs, pelvis, and lower section of his spine were all broken. He was had to go to treatment for two years.’
‘At all times, tree surgery is about awareness,’ Jack explains (Picture: Supplied)
Despite the hazards, Jack claims that his wife is entirely supportive of his work. ‘She knows I’m a competent, safe guy,’ he adds, adding that the position has been beneficial to his mind and body for both of them. ‘It’s great for my mental health because it draws positive people and it’s outside and active.’
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Even on the most difficult and exhausting days, Jack says he has never regretted doing tree surgery. Though his early days were frequently filled with worry of what may go wrong when climbing a massive tree, experience has taught him to remain cool and collected even on the most risky of climbs.
Jack is eager to inspire others to explore tree surgery as a vocation. He now runs his own tree surgery firm with a staff of seven workers.
‘As long as you don’t throw your training to the side,’ he continues, ‘it’s a tremendously enjoyable job.’ ‘It’s like coming to work with my friends every day.’ It’s the most entertaining job I’ve ever done, despite the fact that it’s really risky.’
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“High intensity jobs” are the type of job that people go into for adrenaline rush. They require high risk and rewards, but also high pay. These types of jobs are often in the military or construction industry. Reference: high intensity jobs.
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