A DARING Irish stuntman is bidding to carry out the world’s toughest ever underwater escape.

Ireland’s answer to Harry Houdini, Dean Jacob, 26, plans to wrestle his way free from a complex series of chains and ropes while submerged.

The sheer scale of the challenge is mind-boggling, as this level of weight has never been attempted before anywhere in the world.

A professional magician, Dean will be tied up in 40 feet of heavy chains and secured with seven padlocks, 20 feet of rope, handcuffs, hand restraints and ankle restraints.

And for good measure, he’ll be saddled with an extra 50kg of weight before he’s dropped two metres to the bottom of the Waterford Crystal Leisure Centre swimming pool.

Audiences have already snapped up every available poolside ticket to see if he can hold his breath long enough to achieve the audacious escape.

It may sound like a madcap stunt, but Dean says it’s a very fitting tribute to his idol, the great Houdini.

The Hungarian illusionist began his career as a vaudeville act but became a global sensation for his incredible escapes, once emerging from a sealed casket underwater after 91 minutes.

Even 92 years after his death, the sensational escape artist is still regarded as the godfather of the art by a new generation of practitioners.

Dean told the Irish Sun: “This stunt originated as my homage to Houdini, and Halloween is the anniversary of his death so I’ll be taking the plunge just a few days before that

“I’m a huge fan and I even have tattoos dedicated to him.”

The Waterford man insists there’s no illusion involved, explaining: “I’ve had people come up to me and ask about what tricks I’m using, but there is no trick. I’m going to pick the locks.

“I’ve been practising and so far, I’ve managed to breathe underwater for two minutes and 30 seconds but I have to be able to get it up to three minutes in order to get myself free.”

Attempting such a dangerous manoeuvre certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted. But Dean has been building towards this for his entire life.

He revealed: “I started when I was seven. I asked for a magic set for Christmas. My mother said it was the first time I ever asked for anything.

“I used to do all the classic tricks like cups and balls.

“Then as I got better I started adapting things. Instead of making balls disappear under cups I was making rugby balls disappear under buckets.”

Magic isn’t normally considered the most stable of career paths, but Dean credits his secondary school with nurturing his ambitions.

He said: “School really kept me going. I had teachers taking me out of class to go and do tricks for other classes.

“Then I brought my idea to my mother and she said, ‘If you want to make a go of it, go hard at it but make sure you have a back-up.’

“So I joined the marine search and rescue in Waterford and through them I got a lot of qualifications.”

However, his career almost ended before it began when he suffered a terrifying brush with death.

Following surgery for a leg injury, Dean developed a life-threatening blood clot in 2013 which saw him rushed to hospital in Dublin for emergency surgery.

Dean had a long road to recovery, but his near-death experience completely changed his perspective on his work and removed all fear.

He said: “Before that, I hadn’t done any death-defying stunts. I had all these ideas but I never put any of them into motion because I had a fear. But after the ordeal I decided, why not? Now, I wouldn’t let anything hold me back.”

TICKETS for Dean’s stunt are available at Waterford Crystal Leisure Centre or at Eventbrite.ie.