Flying Wallendas have rich daredevil history, though not without tragedy

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – A daredevil from the Wallenda family of circus performers is ready to add yet another amazing feat to the storied and sometimes tragic family history with his walk across Niagara Falls.

Nik Wallenda’s great-grandfather, Karl, was the patriarch of the modern day Wallendas and himself walked over the Tallulah Gorge on a tightrope. However he died at age 73 when he fell from a wire in Puerto Rico.

The Wallendas trace their fearless roots to 1780 Austria-Hungary, when ancestors travelled as a band of acrobats, aerialists, jugglers, animal trainers and trapeze artists. Nik Wallenda is a seventh-generation member of the circus performers.

Fourteen family members perform today in various troupes.