Don't look down! Mother-and-son team re-enact fatal Puerto Rico high-wire walk that killed Wallenda family patriarch

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Daredevils: U.S. high wire artists Nik and Delilah Wallenda perform in San Juan, Puerto Rico - completing a high-wire walk that had killed his great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, in 1978


It's a heart-stopping way to honour a family legacy.

Two members of a famed acrobatic family commemorated patriarch Karl Wallenda today by completing the stunt that killed him, walking between two towers of a seaside hotel on a wire 100ft above the ground, without a net.

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

He said: 'I've been mentally prepared my entire life for this. 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.'


Heart-pounding: The mother-and-son team balanced on a 300-foot-long wire suspended 100ft in the air between two towers


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.


Balancing act: Nik carried a 45-lb balancing pole, while Delilah Wallenda carried a 25-lb pole



Careful step: They met in the middle and Delilah Wallenda sat on the wire while her son stepped over her in slow motion


Tense: Delilah Wallenda struggled slightly to get up after her son crossed over her before both continued toward the towers of the Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza Hotel


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-lb balancing pole, while Delilah Wallenda carried a 25-lb pole.
They met at the middle.


Focused: Nik Wallenda steadied his step in moccasin-style shoes that his mother had made


Frightening: Dozens of onlookers on balconies and the street below gasped as Nik Wallenda knelt to wipe sweat from his forehead


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.'


Almost there: Delilah Wallenda had to convince her son Nik to allow her to complete the walk alongside him. He initially rejected her request, fearing the feat was too dangerous


Dozens of onlookers on balconies and the street below gasped as he knelt and steadied himself just feet 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.


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


He was 73 when he fell to his death after a lifetime of spectacular acrobatics.

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 explained.

'My great-grandfather always said, "Never give up," and that's something we'll never do.'

Nik Wallenda has, over the years, has succeeded in keeping his great-grandfather's legacy alive with several death-defying high-wire acts.

In 2008, he walked and then bicycled on a wire suspended 12 stories from the ground between two buildings in Newark, New Jersey, without a net.

That act, broadcast live on the Today show, won him a title in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest and highest bicycle on a highwire.

In 2001, another relative, Tino Wallenda, crossed a 300-ft cable at a prison in Puerto Rico and did a headstand in honour of Karl Wallenda.


source: dailymail