Man Dies As He Descends Niagara Falls

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

The Lake Ontario coast guard in Youngstown on Thursday identified the remains of a man found in the waters of that lake as belonging to a man who perished while trying to descend Niagara Falls in a giant ball.

The subject, named Kirk R. Jones, from Spring Hill, Florida, was an adventurer who had already successfully (and almost miraculously) descended the waters of the same area in October 2003.

After that feat, Jones, 53, wanted to try again, this time from the Horseshoe Falls section of the huge falls because of its horseshoe shape.

Detective Brian Nisbet of the State Park Police told CTV News of Ontario that Jones tried to go down the area in a kind of ball or infallible ball of about 10 feet, without further protection, and that his body was recovered on 2 June, so far positive identification could be made.

Jones gained fame when he made his first successful fall in 2003, wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and two winter coats to protect himself from the freezing waters. His feat made him the only man able to survive the descent of the falls without any protection.

According to Nisbet, Jones had already attempted a drop into a ball on April 19 of this year, but apparently something prevented him from realizing his plans. That day, an empty ball was recovered at the base of the waterfall by the famous Maid of the Mist ship, which is the one tourists use to visit the falls.