The first person in recorded history to defy death by plunging over Niagara Falls without any protection has died after apparently trying the stunt again 14 years after his original attempt – this time in an inflatable ball.
Kirk R. Jones’ body was recovered downriver from the waterfall on June 2. Investigators determined that he had been in the Niagara Falls area on April 19 and “may have been attempting a stunt by going over Niagara Falls in a large inflatable ball,” New York State Park Police detective sergeant Brian Nisbit told Syracuse.com.
The inflatable ball was found empty at the base of the falls, where water gushes at an astonishing 150,000 gallons (567,811 liters) per second.
Jones miraculously survived the 180 ft (54.8 meter) plunge in 2003 becoming something of a local celebrity and gaining a criminal record in the process; Canada banned Jones for life after the stunt.
“I’m feeling very happy to be alive,” Jones told reporters following his court appearance at the time. “I ask that no one ever try such a terrible stunt again,” he added.
The daredevil also appeared on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ program where he described going feet first into the falls and remembers people screaming that there was a man in the water.
“I felt like and heard a suction — a suction that, like a large vacuum cleaner, you suck up an insect on the counter,” Jones told the program. “And I was actually sucked inside, immediately, inside the curtain of the falls. Inside it. And enveloped in it, actually.”
He added that he remembered spiralling at tremendous speed and felt an unbelievable amount of pressure on his head. Jones suffered broken ribs and a bruised spine for his trouble the first time, however, the second attempt at the stunt ultimately cost him his life.
