NBC.com

CRAB DUMP ESCAPE

Although it was a beautiful day by the seashore the temperature inside the tank for Crab Dump Escape was a bitter 55 degrees with a 100% chance of giant Dungeness Crabs raining down on top of Sara Porreca’s head. Her partner and her would have to race against the clock to block the pipes flooding the tank with hundreds of crabs while the water level slowly rose making it increasingly more difficult to get those precious breaths of air as she recounts in this weeks Tale Of Fear.

FEAR FACTOR: What was going through your mind before you entered the tank?

SARA: Everything was going through my mind. Just looking at the crabs, knowing that I’m going to have to go under there and risk, you know, breaking my finger or something to try and unlock these locks. The water rising and- and having really no room to breathe were just two aspects that just really, really freaked me out.

FEAR FACTOR: What didn’t you like about it?

SARA: It was the most terrible thing I’ve ever done. It was embarrassing, it was frightening, and, it was just terrible. Just being in the water, it was so cold. The crabs were biting me everywhere and I had no room to breathe and it was just something I wasn’t expecting. It was terrible.

FEAR FACTOR: What do you think was the worst part about this stunt?

SARA: Definitely the worst part was coming up for air, and not knowing where to go. You would put your head up and there would be a tube or a crab in your face, so that was the worst part, coming up for air and not having air to come up for.

FEAR FACTOR: So the lack of oxygen was worse than the crabs?

SARA: Yeah, breathing was terrifying because the water was so cold. You could only hold your breath for a couple seconds at a time. And then when you did hold your breath and go under, it just felt like the crabs were coming down every second. Before I knew it there were ten crabs on top of me.

FEAR FACTOR: How cold was the water?

SARA: The water was terribly cold and I could not keep my breath long enough to be able to go under and do what I was supposed to do. It was terrifying.

FEAR FACTOR: Did you ever get bit by the crabs?

SARA: Heck yeah! They hurt. They hurt so bad. The first one bit me on my butt and after that it just scared me because it hurt so bad. They hurt.