Blaine ends pillar thriller

Blaine's jump was broadcast live on TV

Magician David Blaine has completed his 34-hour endurance stunt at the top of an 80-foot (24-metre) pole by spectacularly jumping into a stack of cardboard boxes.

After rescuers dived in after him, he emerged looking shaken and declared: "That hurt."

Blaine said he was "living on adrenaline" while up the pole

But he was uninjured after the finale, which was watched by 3,000 people in Manhattan's Bryant Park and millions more live on television.

He spent 34 hours and 23 minutes standing on top of the pillar, which was only 22 inches (56cm) wide at the top, with no safety harness.

Two handles on either side of Blaine - whose idol is escapologist Harry Houdini - were his only defence in the event of high winds.

The 29-year-old went without food for four days before mounting the platform and had only a minimal water supply with him to prevent dehydration.

The final hour of the stunt was shown live on his own television special.

This is just the beginning

David Blaine

After emerging from the cardboard box pile, he whispered that he was "feeling OK", but that landing on his back had been painful.

He said that after 24 hours on the pillar, he had been "living on adrenaline".

He then told the crowd: "I just want to thank everybody for their support, making this possible. This is just the beginning."

An ambulance then took him away.

Blaine has previously spent 61 hours encased in a block of ice and has been buried underground in a coffin for a week, all in the name of magic.

Crowds gathered to watch Blaine during the stunt

To prepare for his latest feat he trained with high fall specialist Bob Brown who has served as stunt double for Hollywood stars Nic Cage and Kevin Spacey.

The pillar was going to be 100ft tall but his team realised the speed of the fall could kill him.

A medical team and emergency personnel was standing by throughout the ordeal.

For his next spectacle, a chained and handcuffed Blaine is due to be thrown into the freezing River Thames in London from Tower Bridge.

He hopes to escape his chains before surfacing alive in a stunt that echoes Houdini's escape from New York's East River.

The trick is due to take place in February 2003.