Evel Knievel Passes Away

The famous daredevil, Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel passed away today (11/30/07) at the age of 69. He has been sick for years with diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He also contracted Hepatitis C from a blood transfusion 15 years previously.

I'm not old enough to see Evel Knievel do his live motocycle jumps (on TV) but I did see all the amazing clips of him making his jaw dropping jumps.

The one that made him famous was of course, the fountains in front of Caesar Place in Las Vegas. He was hoping to broadcast it live on ABC, but because at the time he wasn't famous yet, ABC did not eat up his tale of the stunt and rejected the broadcast. When Knievel made the jump in 1967, his motorcycle unexpectedly loss power and decelerate, which caused Knievel to come up short during the landing. Knievel hit the pavement and skidded into the Dunes parking lot. As a result, he ended up with crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles and a concussion that kept him in a coma for 29 days. After ABC got a hold of the footage, shot by Knievel's ex-wife, ABC quickly bought the rights, and that footage made Evel Knievel a household name.

The Six Flags at St. Louis was going to open a wooden coaster in 2008 after the legendary daredevil, too bad he won't be around to see it.

A man who escaped death so many times, ultimately gave in. Now he's jumping the sky.