'You can’t break a record every day': Firefighter raises big bucks at beer festival ice bath

EDMONTON -

An Edmonton firefighter braved a prolonged ice bath Saturday to help raise awareness and money to support Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

Wesley Bauman took the polar plunge and stayed put in an ice bath for just shy of an hour and a half Saturday evening at the Edmonton Craft Beer Festival.

Initially, Bauman planned to shatter the Guinness World Records time of three hours.

“It didn’t go as well as expected,” Bauman told CTV News Edmonton. “Unfortunately, while I was in there, about 50 minutes in, the ice kind of shifted. Think of an ice cube in a warm glass of water, and it goes pop.”

The top of the ice went one way while the bottom shifted towards the other direction. Bauman described it as being forced into a “weird and awkward limbo” position.

“My back started spasming, so I kind of battled it for about 20 to 30 minutes,” he added. “It’s a fun event, and I’m not going to put my health in jeopardy.”

Bauman said how the two previous attempts he made at going for more than two hours were during wintertime when ice melt is slower.

“I challenged myself this time,” he said. “We raised a lot of money here, had a lot of great exposure for post-traumatic stress and mental health, and then raised a lot of money for Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

“It’s a win. You can’t break a record every day.”

While Bauman isn’t sure if he will take a stab at the world record again, he plans to continue taking ice baths for five to 10 minutes every day.

The ice stunt helped raise more than $9,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Canada.