Daredevil adventurer Johnny Strange has died after a wingsuit flying accident in Switzerland at the age of 23.
Strange attained fame after climbing the Seven Summits in a challenge to climb the highest mountains on all the seven continents at 19 years old. Strange also reached the North and South Poles later on.
"I've almost gotten killed so many times. I almost fell into a crevasse while pulling a sled on Denali [Mount McKinley] and I had to dodge falling rocks on Aconcagua," Strange told reporters in the past, according to The Telegraph.
Police said that Strange jumped shortly after 12 p.m. Thursday (local time). Weather conditions were reportedly unconducive to extreme sports at the time. Strange jumped from a 2,000-metre summit in the Swiss canton of Uri wearing a wingsuit, a piece of equipment that resembles human-size bat wings. He is reported to have crashed into the ground, most likely after losing control during the jump, authorities in Uri said, reported ABC News.
Wingsuit flying involves jumping off a cliff and flying close to the ground in an aerodynamic flying suit, before pulling a parachute. It was while undertaking such a flight in Switzerland that Strange was killed. Strange had also taken to BASE jumping in recent years, an adventure sport that involves jumping off tall structures.
Strange is survived by his father, mother and two sisters.
"For Johnny Strange, adventure is a way of life and he seeks it out whether it's base jumping into the Grand Canyon, surfing 30 foot waves in Hawaii or skateboarding down the side of a mountain. Johnny Strange is a man who exemplifies courage, strength and excitement," his website reads, according to the New York Daily News.
