Some people never stop chasing the adrenaline rush that only comes from pushing the envelope in a major way -- and unfortunately, the risk is sometimes far greater than the reward. Here's a look at daredevils who tragically lost their lives doing insane stunts.
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00:00Some people never stop chasing the adrenaline rush that comes from pushing the envelope
00:05in a major way, and unfortunately, the risk is sometimes far greater than the reward.
00:10Here's a look at daredevils who tragically lost their lives doing insane stunts.
00:15The human capacity for dreaming up bizarre stunts is perhaps only surpassed by the public's desire
00:21to watch people do bizarre stunts, which has proven to be a pretty lethal combo.
00:26In October 2017, Malaysian magician Lim Ba attempted a stunt which involved him sitting
00:32inside a giant wok with some rice and sweet corn. Lim had been performing this particular
00:37stunt for more than a decade, and held a record of 75 minutes within the larger-than-life wok.
00:44However, the magician was also approaching 70, receiving treatment for high blood pressure,
00:49and had recently undergone a heart bypass. Needless to say, he wasn't in peak physical
00:54condition at the time of his death. Around 30 minutes into the performance,
00:58Lim started knocking on the inside of the wok. Upon removing the cover, onlookers found him
01:03unconscious, and by the time medical personnel arrived to the scene, Lim had passed away.
01:09The official cause of death was a heart attack,
01:11though police noted that the performer also suffered second-degree burns.
01:16There's something about Niagara Falls that inspires daredevils,
01:20despite the unsettling three-to-one ratio of successful stunts to fatal ones.
01:25Of all the daredevils who have attempted to go over the falls in some kind of vehicle,
01:29whether a barrel or a kayak, 16 people survived and six died. Of course, that doesn't include
01:35the dozens of people who choose to end their own lives at the Horseshoe Falls every year.
01:41Nor does it include over 5,000 bodies that have been retrieved from the bottom of the
01:45falls since 1850. Superman just can't save everyone, as much as we wish he could.
01:51On June 2, 2017, authorities found the body of Kirk Jones below the falls,
01:56but no one really seems to know much about his jump. Reports say that tourists spotted
02:00an inflatable ball going over the edge in April, and police later found Jones' personal website,
02:06titled Kirk Jones Niagara Falls Daredevil, where Jones had been selling t-shirts that read,
02:11Believe in the Impossible! Kirk Jones and Misty Conquer Niagara Falls. Misty was Jones' pet boa
02:18constrictor, who is believed to have been inside the inflatable ball Jones had with him. Unfortunately,
02:24the snake is thought to have perished in the fall as well.
02:27Pure originality is difficult to come by these days. It seems that most everything has been done
02:32before, and of course, posted online for the whole world to see. Hiker and social media star
02:38Gigi Wu actually found a way to stand out from fellow hikers by donning a bikini. Wu would wear
02:43traditional hiking clothing while making her treks up mountains, but would change into her two-piece
02:48once she reached the top. The self-proclaimed bikini climber loved hiking alone and felt anyone
02:54should be able to do it, according to the Washington Post. Of course, hiking solo does
02:59come with its own set of safety concerns, especially if a hiker isn't dressed appropriately.
03:04Wu fell 65 feet into a ravine while on a solo hike on Yushan Mountain in central Taiwan.
03:10She was lucid enough to make a phone call after falling, though she said she was unable to move
03:15because of a leg injury. Unfortunately, rescuers weren't able to reach her until at least a day
03:20later, and Wu tragically froze to death before she could be saved.
03:25No one should walk around on the wing of an airplane unless it's firmly parked on the
03:29asphalt without an insane amount of proper training. Plenty of folks have gotten themselves
03:33hurt, or worse, killed, after playing around with an airplane.
03:37"...performing low-level aerobatics can be a dangerous business."
03:41A rapper by the name of John James thought a wing-walking stunt would make for an awesome
03:46music video. However, while he reportedly trained some for the daring act, he was far from a
03:52professional stuntman, and he didn't have the practice required to safely perform the death-defying
03:57act. James reportedly walked a little too far out on the wing, which caused the pilot to lose
04:02control of the aircraft. The rapper tried to hold on as the Cessna went into a spin,
04:06but by the time he let go, James was too close to the ground to use his parachute.
04:10The pilot regained control of the plane and landed safely,
04:14but James tragically lost his life in the accident.
04:17Everyone knows professional wrestling is staged, but that doesn't mean it lacks real-life danger.
04:23In May 1999, 33-year-old pro wrestler Owen Hart fell 85 feet from the rafters of Kemper
04:30Arena in Kansas City while performing a stunt. Hart was supposed to swoop into the arena prior
04:35to his match, but his safety harness wasn't correctly attached. Because fans know the
04:40theatrics involved in professional wrestling, many people in the crowd believe they were
04:44witnessing a part of the show. Spectator Leo Washington told the New York Daily News,
04:49When they took Hart off in a stretcher, everybody cheered for him like he was a football player
04:53being taken off the field. It wasn't until an hour later that commentators confirmed
04:58Hart had died in the fall.