Woman jumps into Hudson River for TikTok video, receives viral backlash

NEW YORK -- A young woman thought it would make a cool TikTok video to show her jumping off a boat for a swim in the Hudson River in front of the Statue of Liberty.

However, 20-year-old Donna Paysepar's video is going viral for a different reason. Many on social media are commenting that swimming in that not-so-clean Hudson water is gross and potentially dangerous.
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"A lot of people are being very mean, saying 'I hope she dies from that water' and like just sending me death threats," said Paysepar, who is from New York's Nassau County.

Paysepar says she stands by her own opinion.

"And that is that I live by the YOLO mentality. You only live once," she said.
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Paysepar says she did get some of that water in her mouth and wasn't expecting it to taste so bad. She is not worried, but she does plan to head to the doctor soon for a check-up.

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