The wife of stunt performer Nik Wallenda dangled Thursday, June 15, from a helicopter by her teeth over Niagara Falls to the amazement of spectators.
Erendira Wallenda performed a series of stunts on Thursday morning hundreds of feet above the Falls from a hoop ring attached to a helicopter. Wallenda was tethered by the waist to comply with a N.Y. state law that requires safety harnesses for performers more than 20 feet in the air.
In an interview reported by The Buffalo News, Wallenda told reporters ahead of the stunt that she was "not going to be freaked out."
"You can't do what we do and be freaked out," she said. “If you're scared of it, then it becomes dangerous. I respect what I do, but I definitely will be taking in the view. That's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but I'm definitely not fearful."
Her husband was there in the helicopter for support, although he could only communicate with his wife via hand signals. She listened to music while performing, to which she had choreographed her routine.
Erendira, an experienced trapeze artist from a family of circus performers spanning generations, broke her husband’s previous record by hanging 300 feet above the Falls by her teeth, whereas her husband hung by his teeth at 200 feet during a stunt in 2011.
The family is well-known for performing daredevil stunts. In 2013, Nik Wallenda walked for a quarter of a mile on a tightrope 1,500 feet in the air over the Little Colorado River Gorge near the Grand Canyon. He has performed tightrope walks and similar stunts in many famous locations around the world.
John Perry for NTD Television