TWIT is sad to report that Evel Knievel has died. He passed away Friday at his home in Clearwater, Florida. The daredevil was only 69 years old. Evel had been ill for years, and suffered from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis. He had a liver transplant in 1999, and lived through two strokes. On Friday, Evel was having trouble breathing and called for EMS, but he died before the ambulance arrived.
The Smithsonian declared Evel Knieval as "America's Legendary Daredevil." But Knievel's fame as a motorcycle daredevil has come at a terrible price: multiple fractures of many of his bones; 14 open-reduction surgeries (to repair or replace bones, some with steel screws, pins or rods); and, over his career, 36 months in the hospital. While Evel Knievel never actually broke "every bone in his body," he holds the Gunniess World Record for the most broken bones: 35.
Just three days before his death, Knieval and Kanye West his Clearwater condo and settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video. Knievel sued West and his record company last year. He sued over a 2006 music video for the song "Touch the Sky," in which the rapper takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and tries to jump a rocket-powered motorcycle over a canyon. Knievel failed in his attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in 1974.
TWIT paid tribute to the awesome Evel Knievel toys in a "Flashback Friday" segment a fews weeks ago. As I mentioned, my family and I loved Evel Knieval, and would all watch ABC's "Wide World Of Sports" on Sunday afternoons whenever they would show Evel's jumps. I still think his jump over the fountains at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen. He cleared the fountains, but crashed when he landed, and ended up in the hospital in a coma for over a month.
America truly did lose a legendary daredevil. I'm sure that noone else will come close to the stunts of Evel Knievel. You will be missed, Evel, but you've definitely set the bar high for those that follow in your footsteps.
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