Tombstoning

While cliff diving remains a tourist attraction in Acapulco, "tombstoning" has become a fad around the world.

The man in the photograph above jumped from a cliff in Cornwall, England, after checking the depth of the water at different tides and waiting for the right weather conditions. He merely bruised his ribs, but this "adrenalin rush" has killed at least a dozen people in the U.K., including a 16-year-old in Minehead Harbour, Somerset, in 2007 and a 24-year-old at Kit Hill, Cornwall, in 2003. The daredevil jumps have left others paralyzed - and has prompted authorities to repeatedly warn against the dangers.

In a similar composite photo made in 2007, a young man survived a jump off Plymouth Hoe into Dead Man's Cove in Devon. A jump from Wenlock Edge, Shropshire, which was captured on video this month, left a man unscathed. But it is not just the young taking these risks. A 46-year-old father of 6 was killed tombstoning Torbay, Devon, in June 2007. A 75-year-old retired army major had to be airlifted to the hospital after a jump earlier this month from Dorset's Durdle Door, a landmark that has lured other jumpers. A U.K. psychologist explains,"It's not that the teenagers and adults are not aware of the risks involved. They just undervalue them in favour of the thrill of the moment."