Yongning Wu, the famous rooftopping daredevil from China who attracted 50,000 followers on Weibo has fallen to his death during his last stunt.
Wu, who called himself China’s “first high-altitude challenger”, rose to fame doing stunts off of highrise buildings. His exploits were posted on Chinese online communities where his videos earned him a modest income from sponsors and video sharing services which paid for content.
This latest stunt was on the 263m/863ft-tall Huayuan International Centre building in Changsha city. Reportedly he was to earn RMB100,000 ($15,000) for this feat. While the event happened on November 8th, his death was not confirmed until yesterday by China police when concerned fans had not seen any recent videos from him and began inquiring.
Wu had some martial arts experience. According to his stunt partner, Hu Tong, Wu had previously needed help from Tong during their climbs and reportedly said, [Wu was not as fit as he made himself out to be.] Tong stopped climbing with Wu several months back.
https://youtu.be/wCr54P0Y7E8
Wu’s comments about his feats, “I’m the most relentless [high-altitude challenger] in China, because I do it everyday. I’m playing with my life…It might look like I’m seeking for death sometimes, but I know what I am doing. I’ll give up when it gets too dangerous.”
We see in the video he did just that, attempting to bring himself up after the 2nd pullup, but the building sides were too sleek and he could not quite get the leverage required to get his leg to the edge.
Reportedly, Huayuan International will pay the 100,000RMB as promised to his family to help with funeral expenses.
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