In the early 1960s, a trend of endurance feats became popular in California and later spread across the United States, including unusual contests like hula hooping, pole-sitting, or dancing. One such stunt was to spend the longest time buried alive. Irish labourer Mick Meaney aimed to beat this record with his extraordinary feat.
In 1968, Meaney set out on a quest for immortality after being buried alive in a specially made coffin lined with foam and secured by air pipes and food/l液 supplies through an opening. The stunt garnered attention when wellwishers and TV crews joined him as he was lowered into a pit at a yard in London's Kilburn area, where he spent nearly two months underground.
Meaney's routine consisted of waking up every morning, exercising, eating books and newspapers, rubbing himself with ointment, holding onto his crucifix for comfort, and talking on the phone to patrons paying for each call through a connected line at a pub. His manager, Michael 'Butty' Sugrue, had rigged up this line so that people could chat with Meaney from all over.
The public initially flocked around the event as celebrities like boxer Henry Cooper made contact with Meaney during his confinement. However, in later weeks and due to war-related issues, media attention waned – a major setback for Sugrue's business plan of making money through advertisements featuring Meaney. Even though he broke the record by spending 61 days underground, no Guinness World Records representative verified the achievement.
Although Meaney claimed that his extraordinary feat had brought him fame and fortune, reality proved otherwise: it never materialized due to what was said to be Sugrue’s scam of his star performer. As a result, Meaney went back to living an ordinary life, working as a council worker in Cork Ireland, before passing away in 2003.
Meaney had wanted fame for more than just being remembered; he yearned to feel 'somebody'.
In 1968, Meaney set out on a quest for immortality after being buried alive in a specially made coffin lined with foam and secured by air pipes and food/l液 supplies through an opening. The stunt garnered attention when wellwishers and TV crews joined him as he was lowered into a pit at a yard in London's Kilburn area, where he spent nearly two months underground.
Meaney's routine consisted of waking up every morning, exercising, eating books and newspapers, rubbing himself with ointment, holding onto his crucifix for comfort, and talking on the phone to patrons paying for each call through a connected line at a pub. His manager, Michael 'Butty' Sugrue, had rigged up this line so that people could chat with Meaney from all over.
The public initially flocked around the event as celebrities like boxer Henry Cooper made contact with Meaney during his confinement. However, in later weeks and due to war-related issues, media attention waned – a major setback for Sugrue's business plan of making money through advertisements featuring Meaney. Even though he broke the record by spending 61 days underground, no Guinness World Records representative verified the achievement.
Although Meaney claimed that his extraordinary feat had brought him fame and fortune, reality proved otherwise: it never materialized due to what was said to be Sugrue’s scam of his star performer. As a result, Meaney went back to living an ordinary life, working as a council worker in Cork Ireland, before passing away in 2003.
Meaney had wanted fame for more than just being remembered; he yearned to feel 'somebody'.
what's up with people doing crazy stuff like that? i mean, buried alive? 61 days underground? it sounds like something out of a bad action movie 
but at the same time, can you imagine being trapped in a box for that long? no sunlight, no fresh air... like, wouldn't your mind go totally wonky after a while? 
and what's with all the phone calls? was he just trying to pass the time or was there someone out there really talking to him on the other end of the line? 
it's all pretty wild. and poor dude meaney... i feel bad for him, stuck in that coffin for so long, never getting the fame he wanted... i guess you could say his record is still unverified because it's just too weird 
u gotta love this guy's dedication tho! I mean, 61 days underground is crazy talk 
. And can we talk about the logistics of this whole thing? I mean, foam-lined coffin with air pipes and food supplies? That's some Next Level thinking 
and a scam artist to boot! meaney's manager, sugrue, took advantage of his star performer and didn't deliver on the promised fame and fortune... meanwhile, meaney was stuck underground for months with nothing but a bunch of useless books and papers 
and it's wild that he actually broke the record in the end lol what a crazy story!
? It's like a bizarre form of meditation, right? But what really gets me is how it didn't work out for Meaney in the end... he never got the fame or fortune he thought he'd get. Guess that's why they say "if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all"... Sugrue was a scammer, and that's just sad 
. It's like Meaney was just a pawn in his own life story. Anyone else think this is the most weirdo thing they've ever heard of? 
Meaney just wanted to feel like a star, but instead he ended up working as a council worker in Ireland 
. Still, I gotta respect the dude for trying something so wild and pushing the limits of human endurance 
he literally spent like 61 days underground without any light or fresh air and he still woke up every mornin' & exercised like a boss 
i wish i had that kinda willpower lol. i feel bad for him tho, he got scammed by his manager & never got the fame he wanted 
. but i gotta give it to him, 61 days is no joke 
He's got more guts than most people have in their entire lives. But at the same time, it's kinda sad that he didn't end up getting the recognition he wanted. All that effort just to be scammed by his manager... 
I guess you can say his stunt was more like a publicity stunt gone wrong? 
. and can u blame him though? i would want fame too, but not if its just a setup 
That's sad.
It just goes to show how desperate people can be for fame and fortune. And Meaney's ultimate goal was to feel like someone important? That's just human, you know?
] Someone should've dug deeper before making him a star...literally! 
] Records are made to be broken, but not if they're forged! 
. I can imagine how claustrophobic and lonely it must've been for him, but at the same time, I admire his determination to break a record 
. He even had books and newspapers to keep himself occupied... talk about multitasking 
. That's gotta be super disappointing and demotivating for someone who went through such an ordeal. I wonder if the experience changed him in any way? Did it make him realize what truly matters in life? 
. Sorry to be all deep and philosophical on you, but I just find it really fascinating 
. That takes courage, you know? It shows that even when things get tough, we can still find ways to stay positive and reach out to others.
! I mean, sure it wasn't officially verified by Guinness World Records or anything, but that's not the point. The point is Meaney pushed himself to try something crazy and amazing, and that takes heart 
.
And poor Mick Meaney ended up living an ordinary life, working at a council in Ireland... what a waste of his life (in my opinion, anyway). 
. The thing is, if he wanted that kind of fame so bad, why didn't he just stick with something a little more normal? Like, I get it, it's fun and all, but come on! He had a whole manager setup for him and everything...that sounds like a scam to me 
. One minute it's a fun chat about weird records, the next it's some dude asking if Guinness World Records even verifies these stunts 
. And another thing, where's the search function? I spent 5 minutes scrolling through this thread trying to find the bit about Meaney's coffin