Erendira Wallenda is a daredevil, and she married into a daredevil family. On Thursday, June 15, she broke her husband Nik Wallenda's record. The professional aerialist dangled by her teeth approximately 300 feet over Niagara Falls. This was the highest suspension ever.
Erendira's accomplishment happened on the fifth anniversary of Nik's accomplishment of walking over Niagara Falls on a tightrope. She set a Guinness World Record because her husband of 17 years also hung by his teeth, but it was only 250 feet over Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri on June 10, 2011.
How she did it
The 36-year-old mother of three was transported by a helicopter above the waterfalls. She sat in a hoop and performed multiple acrobatic flips before she suspended with only a mouthpiece in her mouth that had been designed by her dentist. She then hung upside down with her feet on the hoop before hanging by only her teeth.
Nik, 38, kept an eye on his wife as he wore headphones so he could communicate with the pilot while leaning out the window. New York State has a law that people must be harnessed while performing stunts over 20 feet in the air. Therefore, Erendira wore a safety harness around her waist to comply with that law because surely she was much higher than the maximum requirement.
After her successful stunt, Erendira concluded that it was a beautiful and amazing experience.
Family of daredevils
Erendira comes from a family of acrobatic performers. She is an eighth generation acrobat and circus performer. She has been performing since she was only five years old. She married into a family of performers.
Nik is a seventh generational performer. Can you imagine what type of marriage they would have if one or the other didn't go along with all the high wire stunts? Erendira once said she couldn't see either of them married to someone who didn't perform.
Nik performed a seven-person pyramid act with his family in 1999. After the others left the wire, he stayed and got down on one knee in the middle of the wire and proposed to Erendira in Quebec, Canada while 25,000 people looked up.
They were married a week later but not on the tightrope.
The Wallendas live in Sarasota, Florida with their three children, Yanni, 16, Amadeus, 13, and Evita, 10. Evita is the only one who shows an interest in following in the parents' footsteps. Nik and Erendira said their children are free to choose their own careers.
