First in History: British Photographer Climbs to Christ the Redeemer’s Head for an Epic ‘Divine’ Selfie

▲British photographer Lee Thompson poses for a series of selfies atop the head of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, becoming an overnight sensation!(Photo/Screen capture from UKDaily Mail, the same below)

Travel Centre / Comprehensive Report

It really is a “divine” selfie. British photographer and travel agency owner Lee Thompson climbed to the top of Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer statue on the 29th of last month and took a series of selfies, making history as the first person to ever do so.

According to international media reports, the Christ the Redeemer statue was struck by lightning late last year and sustained damage, which is why it remains under restoration to this day. While in Rio documenting preparations for the FIFA World Cup,31-year-old Lee Thompson and his partner Oliver Harvey managed, under the pretense of wanting to measure the height of the damaged Jesus figure, to persuade Brazilian tourism authorities and were finally granted permission to climb the statue.。

▲Lee Thompson: “Yes!! I did it!! I'm the King of the world!”

After climbing more than 38 meters and spending 25 minutes, Lee Thompson finally stood triumphantly atop the head of the Christ the Redeemer statue and captured a set of unmatched “divine” selfies alongside the sweeping view of Rio de Janeiro below. Thompson said, “When I had the chance to tell people that I’d taken the world’s first (and possibly only) selfie from the top of the statue, I couldn’t say no. Even now, looking at those photos still gets my heart racing because reaching the very top has always been one of my lifelong dreams.” He also mentioned that when he finally reached the summit, he felt an overwhelming sense of peace and immediately started snapping pictures to preserve the rare moment.

% Watch Lee Thompson’s journey to the highest point of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio. Video sourced from YouTube. Apologies if it's been removed.