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The Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, whom you may know as the guy who jumped from the stratosphere in 2012, has died age 56 in a paragliding accident in Italy
View attachment 7655939

German language source [A]
I remember that guy when he did that jump from the stratosphere. With these extreme sports you really got to stop at some point earlier than later if you don't want to die in an accident. Even if everything went well for all your career, the next stunt could always be your end.
 
The Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, whom you may know as the guy who jumped from the stratosphere in 2012, has died age 56 in a paragliding accident in Italy
View attachment 7655939

German language source [A]
quickly google translated article:

Felix Baumgartner (56) is dead!
Fatal paragliding accident
© APA | dpa/Caroline Seidel
(July 17, 2025) Tragic accident in Italy! Local extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner (56) died in a paragliding accident on Thursday afternoon in Porto Sant'Elpidio on the Adriatic coast in the Marche region.

As the fire department called to the scene confirmed to APA, Baumgartner reportedly lost control of a motorized paraglider due to a sudden onset of discomfort and crashed into a hotel pool. He died instantly, according to rescue services.

During the fall, he hit a hotel employee, who was hospitalized with neck injuries. Baumgartner had taken off from a paragliding area. His wife, who was in the area with the extreme athlete, was informed of her husband's death. Baumgartner became world famous through his stratospheric jump from a height of around 39 kilometers in the USA.

brother couldnt just be happy with the achievement that hes the first extreme nibba to jump from the space, nah he had to take a darwin award as well. fucking RIP i guess. the RKO joke will always be remembered from me.
 
The Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, whom you may know as the guy who jumped from the stratosphere in 2012, has died age 56 in a paragliding accident in Italy
View attachment 7655939

German language source [A]
felix-baumgartner-supersonic-freefall-leap.webp
This was 13 years ago? RIP. His skydive height record was broken a few years later by a computer scientist, but he used a drogue parachute so the descent was less insane. I remember many people I know were talking about it back then, even those uninterested in space or those kind of extreme activities. Accidents (and sudden health complications) are bound to happen, it's inevitable.
 
Dude retired after the space jump, should have stuck to it.
Hell, I think it was an interview with him where he said most wing suiters end up dead.
The other weird thing is the impact and splashdown apparently didn't kill him, he died midflight of an unspecified medical issue.
 
He wasn't particularly reckless, like most professionals he tended to plan out his jumps meticulously. I believe that was why he talked about how wing suiters are in it for the thrill and misjudge jumps and eat bridges and mountainsides.

You can't exactly plan around a stroke or heart attack.
 
He wasn't particularly reckless, like most professionals he tended to plan out his jumps meticulously. I believe that was why he talked about how wing suiters are in it for the thrill and misjudge jumps and eat bridges and mountainsides.

You can't exactly plan around a stroke or heart attack.
Wingsuiters usually take the same course multiple times with each one getting closer and closer to hard objects, then they eat a random gust and face plant into the ground
 
early reports are looking like he died of a sudden heart attack. so not even related to the paragliding?
Sudden heart attack while paragliding
Followed by losing control of the paraglider and crashing, dying immediately
Sounds to me like he was in possession of information that would have led to the arrest of Hillary Clinton
 
The Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, whom you may know as the guy who jumped from the stratosphere in 2012, has died age 56 in a paragliding accident in Italy
View attachment 7655939

German language source [A]
This is a different dead dude who jumped out of space, Joe Kittinger (1960).

It's a pretty good remembrance, though.
Or you could be Evil Knievel and just die old and super fucked up. I think I would much prefer an instant lights out, doing something that I love.
It's actually "Evel." Even though he was kind of evil. He beat up a dude with a baseball bat once.

Whatever.

I forget what comedian said it, but "I'd like to die in my sleep like my grandfather. Not screaming in terror, like his passengers."
 
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The Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, whom you may know as the guy who jumped from the stratosphere in 2012, has died age 56 in a paragliding accident in Italy
What the heck! His jump was the most incredible thing my child self had ever seen (on tv). Something I won't forget. I have so much nostalgia for that entire era.
(it's in the youtube rewind of that year, from when rewinds were actually good)
 
Chatted with a friend of mine earlier, he lost a somewhat distant aunt and uncle during the floods in Texas earlier this month. God bless their souls.
 
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