Niagara Falls Daredevils

Niagara Falls Daredevils

  The Great Blondin completed a death-defying tightrope walk over the Niagara River in 1860. The people listed below took the plunge.

  Annie Taylor, October 24, 1901 (Survived)
Annie Taylor was the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Even more amazing, she lived to tell about it!

  Her assistants strapped the Bay City, Michigan, schoolteacher into a special harness in a wooden barrel, which was then towed into the mainstream of the river and cut loose.

  Mrs. Taylor was sure she hit the rocks, yet her barrel was fished out of the water near the Canadian Shore just 17 minutes after her plunge. She came out dazed, triumphant and famous, though she died with no money in Niagara Falls, New York, twenty years later.

  Though she said she was 43 years old when she made her famous plunge, she was reportedly 63. Daredevils thinking about doing similar stunts should heed Taylor's words after she came out from her barrel: "No one ought ever to do that again".

  Bobby Leach, July 25, 1911 (Survived)
Riding the falls in a rounded steel barrel, this native of Cornwall, England survived a plunge only to spend six months in the hospital recovering from his injuries. He later died after he slipped on an orange peel in New Zealand, sustaining injuries that led to an amputated leg and a fatal case of gangrene poisoning.

  Charles Stephens, July 11, 1920 (Died)
All that remained of this Bristol, England barber's stunt were a few white staves from his barrel and his tattooed right arm. The rest of his body apparently remained attached to an anvil used as ballast for the barrel.

  Jean Lussier, July 4, 1928 (Survived)
This creative Canadian challenged the falls in a self-designed six-foot rubber ball lined with rubber tubes filled with oxygen. He took some hard knocks in the upper rapids before his ball skipped perfectly over the Falls.

  George Stathakis, July 4, 1930 (Died)
It is believed that this Buffalo, New York chef survived his fall in a large wooden barrel. Unfortunately, the barrel was caught behind the falls for almost 18 hours, while Stathakis had only enough oxygen for three hours. The pet turtle he brought along for good luck survived.

  William "Red" Hill Jr., August 5, 1951 (Died)
Hill referred to his chosen weapon as "a Thing." Thousands of people watched the flimsy contraption - 13 inner tubes held together with fish net and canvas straps-wrecked by a more powerful thing (the waterfall). Hill's battered body was recovered the next day. Hill's father was a famous Niagara "river man" who pulled 177 bodies from the river and braved the Whirlpool Rapids below the falls in his own barrel three times.

  William Fitzgerald (AKA Nathan T. Boya), July 15, 1961 (Survived)
Boya went to battle in a large dark rubber "ball" weighing over a thousand pounds. He was the first survivor to be charged and convicted under the Niagara Parks act. Most daredevils who followed Boya paid fines for their stunts.

  Karel Soucek, July 2, 1984 (Survived)
This stuntman from Hamilton, Ontario was the first Canadian citizen to survive a trip over Niagara Falls. Soucek rode in a 2.7m long 1.5m diameter cylindrical barrel with fiberglass moldings at either end. The barrel was insulated with liquid foam. Equipped with a snorkel for breathing and two eyeholes, Soucek was prepared for everything but being trapped behind the falls for 45 minutes. Fortunately, he was rescued, sustaining assorted injuries and a $500 fine.

  Steven Trotter, August 18, 1985 (Survived-TWICE!)
This 22-year-old part-time bartender from Barrington, Rhode Island became the youngest survivor, thanks to a device made of two plastic pickle barrels surrounded by large inner tubes and covered by a tarpaulin.

  On June 18, 1995 Trotter was back with 29-year-old Lori Martin to attempt the first "co-ed" barrel ride over Niagara Falls. It may have also been the most expensive stunt. Their 12-foot, 900-pound barrel was made from two pieces of hot water heater tanks welded together and coated by Kevlar. Equipped with four oxygen tanks containing enough air to last up to 80 minutes, the barrel reportedly cost $19,000.

  The fearless duo survived the fall, but the barrel became lodged in a rock crevice. Members of the Niagara Falls Fire Department and the Niagara Parks Police rescued Trotter and Martin. For safety reasons, the barrel was retrieved several weeks later.

  John "David" Monday, October 5, 1985 (Survived-TWICE!)
The Niagara Falls Police failed Monday's first attempt to conquer the falls, but he tried it again. The 48-year-old mechanic used a seven-foot long, four-foot diameter steel barrel lined with aluminum separated by foam. Equipped with video and radio equipment, it cost him $16,000 to build.

  He was the tenth person to survive Niagara Falls, and he returned to try it again on July 15, 1990. His "no frills" 394-pound steel barrel became stranded by low water on the brink of the Falls.

  But Monday returned yet again on September 27, 1993. Riding in a steel barrel with only two inches of padding and no safety helmet, he became the first person to survive Niagara Falls twice. (Trotter and Martin made their co-ed trip a couple years later.)

  Peter Debernardi & Geoffrey Petkovich (Survived)
Peter Debernardi and Geoffrey Petkovich-both of Niagara Falls-were the first team to go over in the same barrel. Positioned head to head in the ten-foot steel barrel, they suffered no major injuries in a relatively uneventful fall.

  Jessie W. Sharp, June 5, 1990 (Died)
This unemployed 28-year-old bachelor from Ocoee, Tennessee was either the most brave of Niagara Falls' challengers or the most stupid. He plunged over the brink of Horseshoe Falls in a kayak! The experienced whitewater kayaker reportedly attempted the stunt in order to advance his career in stunting.

  Foolishly, he didn't wear a helmet (so the camera could record his face). He also shunned a life jacket, believing it might hinder an escape if he were caught underneath the Falls. His body was never recovered.

  Robert Overacker, October 1, 1995 (Died)
Apparently not learning anything from past attempts, this 39-year-old Californian zipped over the Canadian Horseshoe Falls on a single jet ski. At the brink, he attempted to discharge a rocket propelled parachute, but it malfunctioned.

  Many other people have crossed Niagara Falls on tightropes or successfully challenged Whirlpool Rapids at the base of the Falls. Many more have committed suicide or died after accidentally falling in the Niagara River. Harriet Beecher Stowe - author of Uncle Tom's Cabin - even thought about suicide while visiting Niagara Falls in 1836.

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