Final Footage: YouTubers' Last Moments

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Final Footage: YouTubers' Last Moments    #LastMoments #FinalFootage #CaughtOnCamera #LifeAndDeath #YouTubeStories

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00:00Gwynevere Beach is a white sand beach just north of Sinan Cove in West Cornwall, England.

00:06Because you have to go through some winding roads and sand dunes to get there, lots of

00:09people drive by that area without even realizing it's there.

00:12But for a YouTuber named Jacob Cockle, this was home.

00:16In 2011, Jacob started a channel called Whirlpool Hitman, where he would upload footage of his

00:20adventures swimming in whirlpools and doing other extreme stunts such as cliff jumping,

00:26extreme surfing, and cave exploration.

00:28As of today, the channel has close to 150,000 subscribers.

00:32According to his family, Jacob lived his life on the edge, and his stunts often earned him

00:36covering shots in big surfing magazines and even prizes from the Sunday Times and National

00:41Geographic.

00:42In some of his Whirlpool videos, Jacob would often throw stuff at a vortex and record random

00:46objects getting sucked down by the powerful currents.

00:50But in most of his videos, he would actually swim in the whirlpools himself, which is extremely

00:55dangerous as the swirling currents could easily pull a person under in seconds.

00:59On May 28, 2013, the whirlpool that made Hale Estuary famous surfaced again, as it did

01:05a few times a year.

01:07And Jacob was determined to swim in it to capture some cool looking footage for his channel.

01:11That day, he ran up to his friend and artist David Rain's house and asked him to film him

01:16as he swam around the whirlpool.

01:18David had collaborated with Jacob in the past, and seen how excited his friend was, he agreed.

01:23Just like in the rest of his YouTube videos, Jacob brought a prop to the harbor to make

01:27his video more eye-catching to his viewers, and for this particular video, he decided the

01:31prop would be a horse mask.

01:33For several minutes, Jacob swirled around the vortex's edge, letting the current carry

01:37him in a circle without dragging him down.

01:40At one point in the video, he mentions to his friend that swimming in a whirlpool was a lot

01:43like surfing, because it was all about flowing with the currents.

01:47After filming for about 25 minutes, David mentions that they probably have enough footage, and

01:51tries to get Jacob to come out of the water.

01:53I reckon you got enough there.

01:54You're riding the current of it with your body.

01:56Are you?

01:57Yeah, it's really similar to surfing.

01:59Just flowing with it.

02:00Whoa!

02:01That was pretty scary.

02:02You?

02:03You?

02:04You?

02:05You got enough?

02:06I don't know.

02:07I don't know.

02:08I don't know.

02:09I don't know.

02:10I don't know.

02:11I don't know.

02:12You got enough?

02:13Um, I just really make the most of it.

02:15I don't know what else to do.

02:17Instead of getting out, Jacob asked David to hand him his stick-mounted GoPro so he could

02:21capture one last bit of underwater footage before calling it a day.

02:25A few seconds after he dived down, David started to worry as Jacob hadn't come back

02:29up to the surface.

02:31When he yelled his friend's name and received no response, he ran to the other end of the

02:35quay where the water flowed into a pool.

02:37That's when he saw his friend face down in the water and knew it was too late.

02:42Jacob was gone.

02:43In March of 2014, Jacob's last footage was uploaded to YouTube with the haunting caption

02:48at the end of the video reading, Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you

02:52were to live forever.

02:54At age 28, Jacob lost his life doing what he loved most.

02:57His funeral was attended by dozens more people than the church could accommodate, and they

03:01all gathered to celebrate his life and remember him as the fearless adventurer he was.

03:05A year after his passing, the harbor was renovated, and the whirlpool that had captivated Jacob

03:10and ultimately taken his life disappeared forever.

03:16James Stope was a YouTuber known for his unique train hopping videos, where he traveled across

03:20the country by riding on the back of freight trains, delighting his fans with his original

03:23piano playing, deadpan humor, and hilarious commentary on everything he saw.

03:28Due to the risk of falling off the train or getting caught between moving cars, train hopping

03:32is extremely dangerous.

03:35But that hasn't stopped people from doing it since before the Great Depression.

03:38And it definitely didn't stop James, or Stope the Hobo as he often referred to himself

03:42on his YouTube channel of almost 60,000 subscribers and just a little over 60 videos.

03:48In some of his videos, you'll find comments from people claiming that they had met Stope

03:51at bars and assumed he was lying when he told them he train-hopped across the country filming

03:55his adventures.

03:57But every time, Stope surprised them with some pretty awesome footage of his cross-country

04:00train-hopping trips.

04:02From Palm Beach to Jacksonville, Stope loved sharing his raw experience of life on the rails

04:07with his audience, who always supported him in his unending search for some pizza and

04:11a cold beer.

04:12Sadly, the adventure came to a tragic end for Stope on November 8, 2017, when a deadly

04:18train accident in Baltimore took his life.

04:20Unfortunately, due to the lack of media coverage of his passing, it's hard to know what exactly

04:25happened to James Stope.

04:26But, the most familiar sources claim that he either fell off an overpass, or his backpack

04:31got caught on a passing Amtrak train as he was standing on a bridge.

04:36Because his death left so many questions unanswered, a lot of his fans submitted requests for the Baltimore

04:40Police Department to release more information on the case, but they were asked to remain

04:44respectful of Stope's family and give them space.

04:47As of 2024, most of Stope's fans still don't know exactly what happened to him, but if one

04:52thing's for sure, Stope the hobo passed away doing what he loved most, and his legacy will

04:56live on forever.

05:00High on Life was a pretty popular YouTube channel with over 600,000 subscribers at its peak.

05:06Starting in 2011, the High on Life crew uploaded more than 400 videos showing their audience

05:10what it was like to make a living as full-time travelers.

05:13From exploring beautiful tropical paradises, to cliff jumping, to diving sunken ships, High

05:18on Life always uploaded really cool videos of the crew's adventures across the globe.

05:23Living life by their motto, if you can, you should, embracing life to the fullest was at

05:27the heart of everything they did.

05:29As mentioned in their channel description, part of their mission was to inspire their audience

05:33to get out and explore the world.

05:35For several years, the High on Life channel grew quickly, with travel content being released

05:39frequently.

05:40But on July 3, 2018, a tragic accident would forever change the lives of the ten team members

05:46and their audience.

05:48That day, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported that three people had been swimming

05:51in one of the pools at the top of Shannon Falls when they suddenly slipped and fell into

05:56a pool about 100 feet below.

05:58Shortly after, the bodies of the three victims were confirmed to belong to Riker Gamble, Alexei

06:03Lyak, and Megan Scraper.

06:05Riker and Alexei were High on Life members, while Megan was Alexei's long-time partner.

06:11Tragically, it was confirmed by the police that Riker and Alexei were trying to rescue

06:15Megan, who had slipped into fast-moving water before the three of them fell 100 feet.

06:20Through tears, the Romanian members of the High on Life crew shared a touching goodbye

06:24message for Riker, Alexei, and Megan on their YouTube channel, remembering them as the kind,

06:29outgoing, life-loving people they were.

06:32Throughout the investigation, there were rumors that the three of them had been filming

06:35a video at the time of the accident, but this wasn't 100% confirmed.

06:39In the aftermath of the tragic incident, a GoFundMe page was started to cover the funeral

06:43expenses, raising close to 30,000 Canadian with the help of their loyal audience.

06:47After uploading five tribute videos, the High on Life crew continued uploading videos of

06:52their travel adventures, honoring their friend's legacy.

06:55The last video they uploaded was two years ago.

07:01Since 2009, fitness model and actor Greg Plitt uploaded over 120 videos to his channel,

07:06where he motivated his subscribers to work out, challenge their bodies and minds, and

07:10leave a lasting legacy.

07:12In a lot of his videos, he inspired his followers with a philosophy of extreme discipline and seizing

07:16every day as an opportunity to become a better version of themselves.

07:21Throughout his career, Greg inspired hundreds of thousands of young men to push beyond their

07:24limits, embrace hard work, and grab life by the horns.

07:28As a West Point graduate and army ranger who had jumped out of more than a thousand planes

07:32throughout his career, Greg really did practice what he preached.

07:35Sadly, in 2015, Greg lost his life at the age of 37 after being hit by a Metrolink commuter

07:41train in Burbank, California.

07:44According to witnesses, he had been shooting a video for his website with two crew members

07:48when the accident took place.

07:50Based on the police report, it appears that Greg was either trying to outrun a train and

07:53get an amazing shot for his website, or he mistakenly believed that an oncoming train

07:58was on a parallel track to his instead of the track he was on.

08:02Either way, several sources confirmed that at some point while he was running on the tracks,

08:06he tripped, fell, and couldn't get up in time to avoid the oncoming train.

08:10Based on one witness's testimony, Greg had been holding a camcorder in his hand when

08:14he was struck by the train, but this was never officially confirmed.

08:18Chillingly, a bystander took a photo of Greg standing near the tracks just a few moments

08:22before the incident.

08:24Another witness named James A. Brown claims he saw a security camera video of Greg running

08:29on the tracks as the train approached him from behind.

08:31To this day, it's still not completely clear what Greg was attempting to do, but this wasn't

08:34the first time he had used train tracks as a prop for his workout videos.

08:40In other videos, he had been filmed doing push-ups on the tracks, playing with fire and taunting

08:44death as he moved on to the way of oncoming trains just in time to avoid impact.

08:47Unfortunately, he couldn't react quick enough that afternoon in 2015.

08:51To this day, Greg is remembered as a prime example of what it means to live boldly, and that's

08:55what he said.

08:56To this day, it's still not completely clear what Greg was attempting to do, but this wasn't

08:59the first time he had used train tracks as a prop for his workout videos.

09:03In other videos, he had been filmed doing push-ups on the tracks, playing with fire and taunting

09:07death as he moved on to the way of oncoming trains just in time to avoid impact.

09:12Unfortunately, he couldn't react quick enough that afternoon in 2015.

09:16To this day, Greg is remembered as a prime example of what it means to live boldly, and

09:21through his hundreds of thousands of fans, friends and family, his legacy will live on

09:25forever.

09:26Tor Ekhoff, also known as Appator, was a Norwegian YouTuber who rose to fame with his videos

09:34where he would do some pretty risky stuff on frozen waters, including ice skating on thin

09:38sheets of ice and diving in ice holes shirtless.

09:42On his journey to break the million follower mark, Appator captivated his viewers by accompanying

09:46his stunts with some very unique habits, including drinking entire bottles of vodka, rolling

09:51around in the snow half-naked in sub-zero temperatures, and even drinking engine oil just for fun.

09:57In his channel description, he mentioned how he was born in 1964 and lived in Norway where

10:01he worked in a paint factory.

10:04He also confirmed that what he drank in his videos was real vodka, but that his uploads

10:08should not be interpreted as any sort of advertisement for the Norwegian vodka brand he was drinking.

10:13Throughout his YouTube career, Appator's audience fell in love with his extremely quirky style

10:18and his unique antics, which earned him the support of well over 1.3 million followers

10:22as of his last video.

10:24Sadly, on November 27, 2021, just a few days after he turned 57 and eerily posted a video

10:31titled, I am not dead, I am 57 today, Appator fell through the ice on a frozen lake near the

10:37town of Cogsberg while shooting some footage of himself ice skating.

10:41Before he started skating, he had sent a text informing the person he lived with that everything

10:45was okay and that he was looking forward to capturing some good footage.

10:49After falling through the ice, Tor quickly tried climbing back out, but because the temperature

10:53wasn't cool enough to freeze back the edges, it kept breaking under his weight, leaving him

10:57trapped.

10:58After a while, Tor was picked up by a group of divers and sent by air ambulance to a nearby

11:02hospital.

11:04The doctors tried everything to bring him back to life, but it was too late as Appator had been

11:08in the water too long.

11:10In the last video he uploaded, thousands of his loyal followers expressed their condolences

11:14and sadness at his passing.

11:17Even in 2024, Appator is seen by his followers and the YouTube community as somewhat of a legend,

11:22a guy who dared to live life differently from most people and wasn't afraid to show it.

11:26It says a lot about his content that even after his death, his videos are still receiving

11:30thousands and thousands of views from fans and curious viewers all around the world.

11:36Albert Dyerland was a Danish actor and YouTuber who was best known for making comedy sketches

11:43and music videos for his songs.

11:46Since 2016, Albert uploaded over 220 videos to YouTube, earning him the love of over 170,000

11:52subscribers.

11:53In 2018, he also starred in a comedy movie named Team Albert, which follows the life of a high

11:58schooler who wants to become YouTube famous.

12:01The movie would actually go on to win the Blockbuster Audience Award at the 2019 Danish Film Awards.

12:06On July 28, 2021, Albert was hiking Mount Ciceta in the Italian Alps and filming a video for

12:12his channel with some friends.

12:14During the hike, he uploaded a story to Instagram where he showed his beautiful surroundings to

12:18his followers.

12:19Sadly, that same day, as he was recording a video on his phone, he fell off the mountain

12:24and plummeted more than 600 feet to his death.

12:28After the incident, a rescue helicopter was sent to the location, but unfortunately he was

12:32pronounced dead at the scene.

12:34From what I found, Mount Ciceta is a part of the Dolomites, a limestone mountain range known

12:39for its steep walls, sharp cliffs, and sudden drop-offs, all of which likely contributed

12:44to the tragic accident.

12:46The investigation revealed that Albert and his friends had been hiking on a route that

12:49links two mountain peaks, but it's unclear what exactly he and his friends were doing

12:53when Albert fell off the mountain.

12:55In the aftermath of his passing, thousands of loving fans shared their condolences, referring

13:00to him as a Danish YouTube icon and one of the best content creators in Denmark.

13:04With more than 90 million views on his channel throughout his career, Albert was loved by

13:09both his Danish and international audience.

13:11His tragic death shook the YouTube community and served as a harsh reminder that capturing

13:16footage in extreme terrain comes with its own set of risks.

13:19To this day, Albert is remembered by his fans for his humor, talent, and the joy he brought

13:24to so many people.

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