Felix Baumgartner, the Daredevil Who Skydived From Space, Meets a Tragic End in a Hotel Swimming Pool

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The gold standard of all daredevils is, of course, the late, great Evel Knievel. Even in an age of limited choices of television viewing, networks would fight for the broadcast rights to his stunts. Jumping a motorcycle over a preposterous number of cars. Attempting to jump Snake River Canyon in a modified rocket, and so on. The quote most often attributed to Keanu Reeves' Shane Falco in The Replacements, is actually based on something Knievel once said. "Bones heal, chicks dig scars, pain is temporary, glory is forever." He also summed up his career choice/lifestyle brilliantly with, "I decided to fly through the air and live in the sunlight and enjoy life as much as I could." 

Well the closest thing we've had since Knievel made his ultimate jump into Heaven in 2007, has been Felix Baumgartner. Who will forever be known for this jump he made from actual space in 2012:

That was another moment when the world stopped to watch an accomplished adrenaline junkie tempt fate. I know my family was riveted to the event. It was bold. Audacious. Historic. And successful. Baumgartner stuck the landing. Spectacularly.

 So it's with a heavy heart I report this man daring man of action has just pulled his final stunt. Which did not go as well:

Source -  Images have emerged from the scene of world-famous skydiver Felix Baumgartner's tragic paragliding accident at an Italian holiday resort amid claims that he suffered a medical emergency mid-air.

Baumgartner, 56, lost his life at around 4pm local time on Thursday in Italy's Porto Sant'Elpidio in the province of Fermo when a flight in a motorised paraglider took a fatal turn. 

Horrified tourists and staff at Le Mimose del Club del Sole holiday village were seen crowding Baumgartner as he lay poolside in images courtesy of Corriere Adriatico, the daily newspaper of the Marche region.

Some appeared to be on their knees administering first aid as staff members hurried a spinal board to the scene, fearing the skydiver may have suffered severe injuries. 

The Red Bull-sponsored athlete, who gained international recognition in 2012 after he leapt from the edge of space in the world's most extreme skydive, had moments earlier smashed into a wooden feature near the site's bustling swimming pool after losing control of the glider.

Several children were playing in the pool as Baumgartner came crashing back to earth and were forced to witness the horrific accident before the pool was evacuated. 

As horrible as this had to be for the people who witnessed this - just tourists trying to relax by the pool while getting hammered on fruity drinks with umbrellas in them, not expecting to see a man plummet to his death in front of them - there's some comfort in knowing Felix Baumgartner was probably not the least bit surprised. 

The man lived his entire life with Death as his companion. Every stunt he ever pulled must have been a reminder of his own mortality. So when he hit that "wooden feature" and that motorized paraglider started losing the battle he'd won so many times - the one against gravity - there had to be no part of his brain thinking, "What did I ever do to deserve this?" On the contrary. He certainly didn't want to die; but if he did, this was how he was going to check out of this world. To shuffle off this mortal coil, spectacularly. He lived fast, died young (according to my math) and left a good looking corpse. He died putting on a show, which is the best anyone in his line of work can hope for. 

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So godspeed, Felix. Every man dies. But you truly lived.