Terrifying bystander footage shows the moment an experienced stuntman’s act went awry in front of a shocked crowd of onlookers at a California fair earlier this month.
Chachi Valencia, whose stage name is The Rocketman Valencia, was performing his death-defying human cannonball act at the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival in Indigo when a strong gust of wind blew him off course on March 2.
“Taking it day by day with my faithful pup by his side,” David Valencia wrote in an update to Chachi’s GoFundMe page. “Grateful for time to heal and soak up all the love and snuggles. Here’s to brighter days ahead.”
Footage from the accident shows Valencia, a sixth-generation circus performer, sailing through the air after being launched from a 35-foot human cannon. As he falls to the landing spot, a gust of wind blows him toward the side of the net, causing him to bounce into the air and smash into the concrete ground below.
“Right before the shot, I think the wind moved and it started a crosswind, and that’s what happened—the wind caught me and threw me off to one side,” Valencia told Fox 11.
Valencia can be seen laying motionless on the ground as employees rushed to call emergency responders.
Before each launch, Valencia must decide if the conditions are safe for him to perform, and he admits to weighing the option of backing out due to the fairground’s windy conditions shortly before the accident.
“You see all the people who are waiting for you to do your thing, and they’re so excited, and you know I just couldn’t cancel, you know?” he said.
Valencia has 23 years of experience performing his human cannonball stunt, appearing at the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony and various sporting events throughout the United States, according to his website.
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But before Valencia can return to the sky to continue his two-decade-long career, he must focus on rehabilitation and healing from his injuries, while reevaluating his risk-tolerance for his gravity-defying stunt.
“I will definitely not take as many risks, as many chances, especially when it’s windy,” Valencia said.
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