David Blaine was unconscious and having convulsions when he was rescued from
his 8-foot aquarium during a breath-holding stunt, his trainer said Tuesday. "I wasn't
focused on records; I was thinking of a rescue," said trainer Kirk Krack, a free-diving
expert. Blaine was convulsing and "unconscious when we brought him to the surface.
If we hadn't intervened, he would still be at the bottom of the sphere doing a breath-
hold. "The 33-year-old illusionist had been submerged in the aquarium with an oxygen
mask for a week. Rescue divers jumped into the 2,000-gallon saltwater tank Monday
night and hauled him up. He was rescued as he struggled to break a breath-holding
record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds. Blaine, who had spent some 177 hours underwater,
went without air for 7 minutes, 8 seconds as a finale to his endurance stunt at Lincoln
Center, which was televised live on ABC.