Jamie O’Brien is a professional surfer who’s known for catching big waves … and his even bigger personality. O’Brien is the star of the Red Bull TV Web Series, "Who is JOB 5.0." He wanted to make this season really stand out, so while in Tahiti for an event he finally got to do something he’s been toying with for more than a year.
O’Brien solicited ideas for the show from fans on his Instagram account. One of them really caught his eye.
“They said, ‘It would be cool if you lit yourself on fire,’ and I thought, might as well,” O’Brien said. “So I went in to Red Bull and I said, Hey I want to light myself on fire and go in to a barrel at Teahupo’o, and they looked at me like … Are you for real?”
As you can see in the video, some of the flames crept up to the side of his face, giving him a bit of a burn and scorching part of his eyebrow (the fire was eventually extinguished by the spray of the waves). But the experience from Jamie’s perspective was otherworldly.
“(When) you’re on fire in the barrel, the whole wave lights up fluorescent orange,” said O’Brien, after pulling off the ride of a lifetime. “It’s a really crazy feeling that you can’t even explain.”
I’m not sure what Jamie could possibly do to top this. But, I’m sure a few people who follow him on Instagram will be able to come up with something.