Antony Britton had hoped to better Harry Houdini by escaping unaided from a grave with his hands cuffed at event in West Yorkshire 
 
 An escape artist almost suffocated when he was buried alive under six feet of soil and tried to free himself during the climax of a festival in West Yorkshire. 
 
 Antony Britton had hoped to better the legendary Harry Houdini by escaping unaided from a grave with his hands cuffed. But his team were forced to dig him out and pull him to the surface unconscious after he failed to emerge within nine minutes. 
 
 Some in the audience at Slaithwaite Spa, near Huddersfield, were in tears as helpers cleared soil from Britton’s mouth and throat before paramedics administered oxygen. 
 
 He came around after several minutes, and later said he would think very carefully before making another attempt the challenge, despite nearly reaching the surface. 
 
 Britton, who is recovering from a cracked rib, scratching and bruises, told the Guardian: “All I remember is, literally your life goes before your eyes. Really. And then I just passed out. 
 
 “It was really weird because I’m not saying I heard noises but my family was talking to me. Just before I passed out I could see both my grandfathers talking to me as if I was a kid. It’s quite emotional when I think back what I went through. It fills me up. 
 
 “Then I just passed out and the next thing I know they dug me up and dragged me out.” 
 
 The stunt was the climax of the Buried Alive festival, hosted by Escape For Life, a non-profit started by Britton and his friends to raise money for charity with affordable events for the public. 
 
 Britton attempted to perform the classic version of the escape, in which the escape artist is handcuffed and buried beneath six feet of soil without a casket. His job was to free himself from the cuffs and scrabble out through tons of heavy dirt. However, things quickly began to go wrong. 
 
 “The soil was landing on top of me and around the side of me. It was compacting and crushing me. Every single time another bucket came it was getting worse. 
 
 “I managed to get an air hole. I remember exhaling and because I collapsed my lungs the soil compacted into that space which meant that when I went to inhale I couldn’t. 
 
 “It was not a problem, but I remember then getting my right arm stuck in the soil and I started passing out. At that point all sorts went through my head and I just remember thinking it’s up to the ground crew to do their job.” 
 
 Assistants on the ground used a mechanical digger and their bare hands to disentomb Britton after they were no longer able to hear him breathing. “The digger driver was absolutely so skilful, I couldn’t have got anybody better in the digger,” Britton said. “When he got the blade in he could have quite easily cut me in two with the pressure.” 
 
 Britton is believed to be only the third person in 100 years to attempt the escape. In 1915, Houdini made it as far as breaking the surface with his hand before assistants were forced to dig him up. Twenty-five years later, in 1940, a British escapologist, Alan Alan, attempted the challenge, and he too had to be rescued. 
 
 In 1992 a 32-year-old American magician, Joe Burrus, died in his attempt at a variation of the stunt. He was crushed to death when the perspex casket he was interred in was unable to hold the weight of soil and concrete that he had told helpers to pour on top. ||||| A paramedic checks Antony Britton after he is pulled unconscious from the "grave" in his failed Buried Alive escape act 
 
 Escapologist Antony Britton says he’s lucky to be alive after losing consciousness during a daring escape bid. 
 
 The Linthwaite-based daredevil had hoped to go one better than Harry Houdini by escaping unaided after being handcuffed and buried in a standard-sized grave under six feet of soil. 
 
 But Antony had to be hauled out unconscious by crew members after he failed to break through to the surface almost nine minutes into the escape bid. 
 
 He was taken to a waiting ambulance where he was given oxygen before coming round. His escapade bid – in front of an anxious audience at Slaithwaite Spa – resulted in a cracked rib and several minor scratches, but Antony says it could have been his last-ever show. 
 
 Antony Britton's hand is visible as team members pull him free in the Buried Alive escape bid at Slaithwaite Spa 
 
 “I almost died,” he said. “I was just seconds away from death. It was scary. The pressure of the soil was crushing around me. Even when I found an air pocket, when I exhaled the soil around me was crushing me even more. I could feel myself losing consciousness and there was nothing I could do about it. I was pretty much dying. 
 
 “But everyone was on the ball and the crew was well-drilled. They knew pretty much where I would be under the soil and after the digger had moved in behind me, the team were hand-balling the soil until they could reach me.” 
 
 WATCH: Buried Alive stunt goes wrong: 1949 video shows Manchester escapologist dug up by rescuers 
 
 Alan Alan had to be pulled from the ground 
 
 Antony said his biggest disappointment was to discover that he was just two feet from the surface when he had to be rescued. 
 
 “I gave it my all, but it just wasn’t my day,” he said. “But I’m in the best company going.” 
 
 Antony is only the third person in 100-years to attempt the Buried Alive escape. Legendary escapologist Harry Houdini attempted the feat in 1915 while British master of the craft Alan Alan tried it in 1949. Both failed and had to be dug out by their crews. 
 
 Antony Britton in the ambulance after sustaining a cracked rib in his Buried Alive escape bid 
 
 “I couldn’t be more proud than to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those guys on this challenge,” added Antony. 
 
 The dramatic scenes unfolded at Antony’s fourth Escape for Life event on Saturday. The escape bid was the highlight of an event which also featured magicians, bands and circus acts and held to raise funds for charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, which is changing its name to Bloodwise this month. 
 
 Antony, who heads not-for-profit company Escape for Life, had been due to undertake the escape bid outside the Traveller’s Rest in Meltham in March, but called off the event due to unexpected snowfall. 
 
 Saturday’s event was also in the balance following rain earlier in the week, but after consulting experts Antony was given the all-clear. 
 
 However, he won’t be attempting the Buried Alive escape bid again. Antony, whose previous fundraising events have included escaping a burning steel cage and wriggling out of a strait jacket suspended from a burning rope, said: “I’ll take three or four weeks to recuperate and see what we do next.”
– Antony Britton's plan: to pull a Harry Houdini and claw his way to the surface after being handcuffed and buried underneath 6 feet of soil. But his charity stunt in West Yorkshire on Saturday took an almost deadly turn when the escape artist was smothered by the dirt and passed out, the Guardian reports. "The soil was … compacting and crushing me," he tells the paper. "I remember then getting my right arm stuck in the soil and I started passing out. At that point … I just remember thinking it's up to the ground crew to do their job." He adds, per the Huddersfield Daily Examiner: "I could feel myself losing consciousness and there was nothing I could do about it. I was pretty much dying." But rescuers came through, nine minutes into Britton's attempt, and cleared dirt from his throat and administered oxygen while spectators watched in tears, notes the Guardian. Britton's minor injuries: some scrapes, bruises, and a cracked rib. The escape, which he was doing to raise money for leukemia and lymphoma research, is only believed to have been attempted (and failed) twice before in the last century, including once by Houdini himself. Even though Britton tells the Examiner he's disappointed he passed out just 2 feet from the surface, he says he won't be trying this trick again. (Then there's the case of Florida's "prison Houdini.")