Stuntman crashes

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33933, 28 August 1975, Page 3

Stuntman crashes

L i LN’.Z. Press Association > I AUCKLAND, August 27. I I About 800 school-) children on holiday) watched in horror early) this afternoon as a! , young stuntman leapt ) 50ft front the roof of I a shopping building, ' missed his target of ■ cardboard boxes, and 1 crashed on to the foot- . path. ■- All remaining stunt leaps [scheduled from the roof of) ;the building have been can-' i celled, and the building’s management says it is “highly unlikely” any similar ■ stunt wil] be staged there again. It was 18-year-old Peter : Brennan’s first attempt at the “high fall.” He was taken to the Auckland Hospital with two broken legs and a

broken arm. Ambulancemen gave him oxygen on the spot,; and in the ambulance on the way to hospital. Mr Brennan, of Onehunga, is a member of a stunt team and had specialised in horse stunts and special effects. The team leader, Mr N. Oliver, said that Mr Brennan had made about 50 practice falls from 25ft, but today’s fall was his first attempt .from 50ft. When Mr Brennan leapt from the roof, he somer- ■ saulted in mid-air, but hit the edge of the stack of cardboard cartons he was supposed to land on and crashed feet-first on to the footpath. Mr Oliver said Mr Brennan was conscious but in great pain. His condition in

i hospital was soon after re.sported as fair. r The show would go on.) said Mr Oliver, with a Hawaiian-born man, Peter Bell, continuing to perform > the high fall. “This is one of the risks . of our business.” Mr Oliver i said. “We know this. We > don’t like it, but it can hapi pen. We accept it. If we: wanted to do something quieter, we’d be insurance' . salesmen.” Mr Oliver was watched by i > 12,000 Aucklanders performing when he made an 80 ’ m.p.h. jump in a car at Wai-i karaka Park earlier this year.) a stunt in which he suffered i a deep cut on the face from i a piece of flying timber. :