A HEARTWARMING video has captured the moment a stuntman dad lets his two-year-old son do a thrilling jump with him into water for the first time.
Alex Rawson, 29, held tightly onto his son’s hand and leapt into the weir near Basingstoke, Hampshire, on Tuesday after the youngster begged to copy his dad’s antics.
The pair can be seen perched on a wall, with a wooden bridge in the background and plenty of greenery around in the hidden treasure.
Fellow thrillseekers happily sat at the side as they waited patiently for Alex and his son to share their special moment.
The tot is shown wearing a buoyancy aid as his dad hoists him up to perform the jump into the water below.
Alex seems to be making sure the camera is ready to record while talking to his son ahead of their leap.
Finally, the duo jump from the wall into the calm water, creating a big splash as Alex holds the toddler’s head above the surface.
Loud cheers can be heard as it appears the little one is eager to follow in his dad’s stuntman footsteps in the future.
Speaking today, Alex, who is also a gymnastic teacher, said: “My son watches my videos all the time on my phone.
“He loves seeing daddy flips so I showed him a flip off the wall and he loved it. He wants to be just like me.
“He said he wanted to jump and was asking over and over for around 10 minutes. I took him up to the wall and he was so excited and ready to go!
“I asked my friend to be on stand by. me and my son both did the countdown and we jumped, with me holding him up in the air as we landed.
“His eyes got wet which he wasn’t too happy about but as soon as I wiped his eyes he was so happy!
“He was shouting ‘yay again daddy again!’
“I swam him straight out the water, took the wet clothes off, dried him and changed him then he was playing football to raise his heart rate and blood flow within a couple minutes of getting out of the water.”
Alex posted it on his TikTok page, backflip_al, yesterday, writing: “My proudest dad moment.”
The video has attracted over 1.4 million views and racked up over 111,000 likes.
Hundreds of viewers commented on the clip, with most social media users praising Alex.
One said: “Taking risks in a controlled environment is where kids learn. More power to you.”
Another wrote: “THE HOLDING HIM ABOVE YOUR HEAD! Actually got me in tears.”
A third commented: “Encourage doing dangerous things carefully. It’s how we progress in life. Love it.”
While a fourth said: “When I first started watching this my skin crawled, but wow, that’s some serious skill and safe as houses. Fair play to you.”
However, some people believed the leap was too risky for a young child.
One wrote: “Ah man… so wrong. So much could have gone wrong. He’s only two.”
Another said: “Doesn’t matter if you’re a strong swimmer. Some man just lost his life, he was all about water-based sports.”
Responding to the concern, Alex added: “I do safety checks, being a freestyle cliff jumper I take safety seriously.
“It may seem very dangerous to some but I eliminated as many dangers as I possibly could.
“I’m also water rescue trained through my old stunt job and first aid trained too, along with my friend who was behind me in the video.
“It was the proudest moment of my life with him. other than his birth, and I’m so happy that the video got so much attention.
“The reaction of viewers was 98% positive. Such kind words about my son, my parenting, and how it was done safely. It brought a tear to my eye.”
