Evel Knievel. There'll never be another one. R.I.P.
At 69, Evel Knievel finally decided he’d had enough of this world. The original American daredevil passed away on Friday, the 30th of November. Evel Knievel had been suffering from ill health for the last few years – he had been battling with pulmonary fibrosis and had also suffered two strokes earlier this year.
Coming from Butte, Montana, in the US, Knievel rose to fame in the late-1960s and early-1970s, when he undertook some of the most dangerous motorcycle stunts ever, including attempts at jumping over the fountains at Ceasar's Palace and the Snake River Canyon. Over a career spanning about 20 years, Knievel suffered countless (sometimes spectacular) mishaps and managed to break just about every bone in his body – but lived to tell the tale. Every time.
It’s said Evel Knievel often quoted (and lived…) the words of Theodore Roosevelt: ‘Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though chequered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.’ Amen.
Evel’s son, stunt-rider Robbie Knievel has said he’ll keep the Knievel legacy going. You can visit the official Evel Knievel website here: http://www.evelknievel.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2xwO1ciEKo
A video of Evel Knievel doing what he did best!
