A daredevil acrobat has become the first man to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
Nik Wallenda, 33, carefully edged his way along the 1,800ft high wire, through the mist and wind nearly 200ft above the roaring falls.
Around 112,000 gathered at the landmark, which separates the US and Canada, to watch the heart-stopping stunt while millions more watched it live on television.
The seventh-generation acrobat, who has seen three members of his family killed falling from the high wire, completed the feat on his first attempt. He described wind “coming from every which way”, mist so powerful he had to blink it away to maintain his vision and a breathtaking view during the night-time walk illuminated by spotlights that “compared to nothing”.
“If I looked down at the cable there was water moving everywhere. And if I looked up there was heavy mist blowing in front of my face.,” said Wallenda.
Other tightrope walkers have wire-walked over the Niagara River at a calmer spot downstream but the challenge was last attempted in 1896.
Source: www.mirror.co.uk
