Pictures of the day: 24 July 2015

Jamie O’Brien is a stuntman, so it’s not supposed to be surprising to see him attempt something considered so risky. He’s a barrel-riding master, movie producer, prankster and all-around game changer.

As part of filming his programme “Who is JOB 5.0″ in Tahiti, he made the daredevil ride, which has captured the internet’s imagination. The surfer says he got the idea from a fan, and it took more than a year to prepare. So I went to Red Bull and said, “Hey, I want to light myself on fire and get barreled at Teahupo’o”. O’Brien recalled. As if surfing this ferocious wave isn’t challenging enough, try adding fire to the mix. It benefitted from the aid of Hollywood stunt coordinator Riley Harper. O’Brien told Red Bull it was far from an impromptu adventure, especially given the preparation that went into the stunt. “My friends and I had actually talked about this before because we’re all surfers and have done a lot of fire burns on movies and we know it’s something that has never been done before”. The energy drink company also had Body Glove, a surfing and skateboarding apparel shop, make a custom wetsuit that moved all life-saving floatation devices to the front of the suit.

In the end, a group of nearly 25 people, including fire and water safety personnel, turned O’Brien’s idea into reality. Of course, there was another reason that O’Brien lit himself on fire besides “Why not?”

‘The whole barrel lit up fluorescent orange, which is a really insane feeling.

He revealed: “I caught the best wave of my life today”.