SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, June 4 (UPI) -- Nik Wallenda of the Flying Wallendas circus family Saturday performed the tightrope walk in Puerto Rico that killed his great-grandfather 33 years ago.
Hundreds of people, including his mother Delilah, watched as Wallenda made his way from one tower at the Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza Hotel to another 100 feet above the ground, pausing several times and kneeling once during his 300-foot journey, Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia and CNN reported.
As he neared the end of his 11-minute trip in a light rain and the wind blowing, Wallenda slipped, drawing cries of concern from the crowd, the newspaper said. The screams turned to cheers when the seventh-generation Flying Wallendas high-wire performer completed the dangerous stroll.
Wallenda's great-grandfather Karl died at age 73 while attempting a similarly daring high-wire act in San Juan in 1978.
"I was not scared at all," CNN quoted the 32-year-old Wallenda as saying afterward.
"I started walking a wire when I was 2 years old, and this has been a dream of mine to recreate this walk. I've seen the video played over and over, and it replays in my head constantly. To be able to walk in his exact footsteps is an extremely huge honor, and I did this for him as much as I did it for my family to get some closure too.
"My great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, was my biggest hero in life, my biggest inspiration behind everything I do."
