Fearless Legacy Continues as First Bungee Jumper’s Life Comes to an End at 78

The world’s first Bungee jumper David Kirke has passed away at the age of 78. Kirke was with his family in his last moments and moved on peacefully. While his death is a truly tragic event, the legacy he leaves behind is one that has already been immortalized by the sands of time. A free spirit, Kirke did the first-ever bungee jump in the world, all while wearing a top hat and carrying a bottle of champagne. Of course, he carried champagne; a feat such as this needed celebrating!

When Kirk began his journey as a Bungee Jumper, the world was a different place. During his lifetime Kirke saw the world evolve into something unrecognizable. But that did not stop him from making friends across 40 countries. They would be his legacy. Once when asked about the most rewarding aspect of his career, Kirke had said that it was the people he didn’t know, it was those unknown faces in the crowd who would smile at his act, that would make him happy. To the world and those who followed keenly in the path he paved, that would be his undying legacy.

David Kirke and the world’s first leap of faith

Born in Bristol and a founding member of the legendary Dangerous Sports Club of the Oxford Univeristy, he was inspired by a ritual carried out on Vanuatu in the South Pacific. When Kirke started his career, bungee Jumping as a sport did not exist. He was the first person to tie that rope to his waist and swan dive into a leap of faith. 

Being a part of the club,  Kirke had been exposed to the world of wild stunts at an early stage in life. When asked by The Washington Post why risked his life,  Kirke once said, “Most people think we are mad. We think they’re mad to endure such humdrum lives.” 

It was mad indeed. The club was also a symbol of rebellion, a playful act of resistance against the societal norms that existed during the era of the then Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. But it wasn’t his slow plucking away at the ruling class of England that got him to the front pages of the local newspaper. On the 1st of April, 1979, Kirke took the world’s first leap of faith!

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He performed the world’s first bungee jumping and swan dived off that 245ft (76m) bridge, and into the annals of history. He didn’t even test the ropes. 

Legacy of adventure and fearlessness continues

Kirke’s family provided a glimpse of his life outside the newspapers and the cameras, in an interview with the BBC. A kind and generous man, Kirke was a man of his word, and boy, he did love his words as one would realize if they only Googled all the quotes ascribed to his name. 

Throughout his life, Kirk showed disinterest in capitalizing on his adventures and kept himself away from the commercialization of his beloved act. The Dangerous Sports Club that he helped found, represented a fine blend of innocence with recklessness showcasing discontent towards the socio-political nature of his country.

He defied reason, he defied gravity. For decades, his fearless escapades made him the pioneer of adventurous sports. 8 billion people on the planet, and how many of us can claim to have truly lived? Kirke could. He would stake the world on that question and walk away with the whole world in the palm of his hands, much as he did with the hearts and minds of everyone who witnessed his unusual bravado. 

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