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Acrobat, mom reenact fatal Puerto Rico wire walk

By 조정은
Published : June 5, 2011 - 14:07

 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) --Two members of a famed acrobatic family commemorated patriarch Karl Wallenda on Saturday by completing the stunt that killed him, walking between two towers of a seaside hotel on a wire 100 feet (31 meters) above the ground, without a net.

Nik Wallenda said he had planned to walk by himself across a 300-foot-long (91-meter-long) wire, but his mother convinced him to let her join him on the reconstruction of the fatal 1978 stunt.

``I've been mentally prepared my entire life for this,'' he said. ``I've seen the video of my great-grandfather falling hundreds of times. It's something I've been wanting to do for all of us, for our family.''

He said he initially rejected a request by his mother, Delilah Wallenda, to join him.

``Just because of safety,'' he said. ``We've obviously lost several family members doing this.''

But Delilah Wallenda, who is in her late 50s, eventually won him over, he said.

The mother-and-son team walked slowly toward each other on a damp morning, balancing on a wire as wide as a nickle. Nik Wallenda was wearing moccasin-style shoes that his mother had made. He carried a 45-pound (20-kilogram) balancing pole, while Delilah Wallenda carried a 25-pound (11-kilogram) pole.

They met at the middle. Delilah Wallenda sat on the wire while her son stepped over her in slow motion. She then struggled slightly to get up before both continued toward the towers of the Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza Hotel.

``Normally, I'm in a zone,'' he said. ``At this point, I was in no zone. I was still focused on my great-grandfather.''


(AP)



Dozens of onlookers on balconies and the street below gasped as he knelt and steadied himself just feet (meters) before he completed the walk.

The Wallendas obtained permission to do the stunt about two months ago so they could commemorate German-born Karl Wallenda, who was 73 when he fell to his death after a lifetime of spectacular acrobatics.

He was the founder of the ``The Flying Wallendas'' high-wire act.


High-wire acrobats Delilah Wallenda, right, lowers her head as her son Nik Wallenda, left, crosses over her during their high-wire act where the two simultaneously walked across a 300-foot-long wire suspended 100 feet in the air between two towers of the Conrad Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday June 4, 2011. (AP)



In 2001, another relative, Tino Wallenda, crossed a 300-foot (91-meter) cable at a prison in Puerto Rico and did a headstand in honor of Karl Wallenda.

Nik Wallenda said Saturday's walk was an emotional experience.

``It was to show the world that the Wallendas are still here, we're still going strong,'' he said. ``My great-grandfath er always said, 'Never give up,' and that's something we'll never do.''



 

母子 아슬아슬.. 30미터 공중 외줄타기 성공

푸에르토리코에서 한 곡예단 가족이 30미터 공중 외줄타기에 성공해 화제가 되고있다.

AP통신에 따르면, 1978년에 안전망이 없이 외줄을 타다가 사망한 칼 왈랜다를 추모하기 위해 그의 증손자와 딸이 지상 30 미터 위에서 길이 91미터의 외줄타기에 성공했다고.

이들 모자는 각각 반대편에서 외줄을 타기 시작해 중간지점에서 만나 서로를 넘어 외줄타기를 계속했다.

이들역시 안전망 없이 외줄타기을 탔지만 결국 성공했다고.

"저는 머리속으로 항상 이 순간만을 생각하며 준비 했습니다," 라고 칼 왈랜다의 손자인 닉 왈랜다가 말했다.

그는 "증조부가 (외줄타기에 실패해) 추락하는 비디오만 여러차레 봐 왔다" 며 "우리 가족을 위해 무언가하고 싶었다" 라고 이번 이벤트의 의미를 설명했다.

(Herald Online)


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