Rooftop daredevil fell to death while trying to earn money to marry his girlfriend, family says
Authorities have confirmed that a young rooftop daredevil fell to his death last month from a 263-meter-tall Changsha skyscraper while apparently attempting to perform a particularly dangerous stunt in order to win enough money to marry his girlfriend.
Last month, the social media accounts of Wu Yongning (吴咏宁), who claimed the title of “China’s first extreme height challenger,” ceased updating, causing his followers to believe that the young man’s luck had finally run out. Their fears were finally confirmed on Friday when Wu’s girlfriend made a post on Weibo. “Today is December 8th. It makes me think of November 8th, the day that you left us, left this world,” she wrote.
More and more details of Wu’s untimely death are beginning to come out. Police have said that the 26-year-old fell from the 62-story Huayuan Center Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the Hunan capital, on November 8th. His body was only found the following day after his girlfriend reported him missing, the Beijing News reports.
Wu’s family told local reporters that before his death the daredevil was taking part in a rooftopping challenge in which an unnamed brand was offering him 100,000 yuan in prize money. Both friends and family believe that it was this big pay day that ended up pushing Wu over the edge.
His step-uncle said that Wu was planning to use the money, not only to pay for the medical treatment of his sick mother, but also to give to his girlfriend’s family as a bride price so that the two could finally be married.
Wu’s rooftopping friends said that he had started to take his stunts too far because of the challenge and refused to listen when they told him to take more precautions. He was also reportedly under a lot of stress because he had signed up with a number of live-streaming platforms and had been contracted to make some extreme videos to promote various brands.
Starting out as a film extra, Wu began making a name for himself online by posting hundreds of videos on various video-sharing sites showing him performing pulse-pounding stunts atop extremely high buildings in China without any safety equipment. On Meipai, he had accumulated 235,000 followers.
Shortly following confirmation of his death, a video began circulating online which purported to show the stunt that took Wu’s life. However, Wu’s friends have since said that it had been recorded by him as a gimmick.
However, yesterday, another video emerged on social media which appears to be authentic. The clip shows Wu lowering himself down off the edge of a skyscraper and attempting to do some pull-ups. However, he seems to lose his strength, and eventually, his grip.
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