“Tragic Mike” — Norwegian Cruise Passenger Backflips at Deck Party, Breaks Ankle

Before commercial airplanes, options were limited for folks looking to go on cross-continental journeys to lands separated by bodies of water. You hopped on a massive cruise ship and prayed you didn't get wrecked at sea. They were slow-moving, nightmares to be on if you were unfortunate enough to become seriously sick or injured on them, and didn't have frequent flier programs.

There's no doubt that cruise liners have come a long way since the days before doctors knew to wash their hands with soap before they helped a woman deliver a child. However, there are some pitfalls of traveling by boat that still apply today. Namely, that getting injured at sea really, really stinks.

Which is exactly what happened to this guy aboard a Norwegian cruise ship who was wilding out to the tune of DMX's "Up in Here."

The sorry accident was captured by a TikTok user who goes by Matt (@matt_0402) on the popular social media application. In the video, a shirtless man can be seen performing the worm on deck in front of a bunch of bystanders. The clip begins with the popular tune echoing throughout the ship.

He removes his shirt and begins twirling it over his head as a chorus of "oohs" and "aaahs" emanate from the crowd. He then tosses the shirt and props himself onto his arms, holding his body up in a handstand.

Following this, he performs a worm maneuver backwards after clearing some space.

It's a technique that seems to have impressed a lot of folks in the vicinity watching his performance.

After this trick, he then turns his attention to a thin, glass dividing rail. With gusto, he jumps up to the railing, but struggles to find his footing. As he does so, his right foot seems to be shaking awkwardly.

Impressively, however, he manages to balance on the railing as some voices cut through the cheering that sound as if they're warning the man not to engage in whatever he plans on doing. The shirtless man then performs a backflip but faceplants back on the deck floor.

He bounces right up, and for a second he seems fine. That is, until his right foot folds at the ankle straight out to the side, visibly broken. He checks the injury as a man in a fedora holds his arm to help stabilize him. The DJ over the loudspeaker asks the exuberant man if he's OK while someone who appears to be a crew member holding a clipboard approaches the injured passenger.

The smiling, broken-ankled man intermittently touches his nose throughout the clip, which prompts someone off camera to say: "I think he broke his nose." Afterwards, the DJ can be heard consoling the man and onlookers: "It's OK, it's OK." Then, the man with the clipboard urges the MC to "play some music please."

The party-loving man, with the help of two people, begins to hobble off the deck behind the man with the clipboard. Another person on board asks off-screen: "You broke his ankle you think?" Other passengers approach the hurt man to check up on him as he's helped down a couple of stairs.

"Oh my God his toes [are] pointed down. Yeah he broke it, he broke it," another person says before the video comes to a close. Several people who watched the video sympathized with the man's agony. Whereas others weren't so kind. "Not the embarrassment overpowering his pain," one penned.

"Hey, that's Tragic Mike!" another quipped. Someone else thought the regret in the cruise passenger's face was palpable. "I know he really misses the person he was before his shirt came off."

Whereas another was shocked by the party boy's reaction to seeing his broken ankle: "It’s him trying to put his ankle back on like it was a shoe."

Others were worried about the man's ruined holiday. "He just ruined his vacation, omg." Whereas someone else had a sobering viewpoint on the man's backflip. "Was it worth it to impress people that you will never see again?" they asked.

It's not difficult to imagine that sustaining such a grisly injury on a cruise could be a costly mistake.

There's no shortage of folks who've shared the eye-popping medical bills they've accrued after simply getting sick on board of a cruise liner. And if he needed to get a medical evacuation via helicopter while on a cruise ship, those prices can reach tens of thousands of dollars. Here's hoping he has a very generous and inclusive health insurance plan.