Mihaela Radulescu Schwartzenberg, the wife of extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner, has released a tribute following his tragic death.
Awful news on July 17 confirmed that Baumgartner had died in a paragliding accident in the eastern Italian town of Porto Sant’Elpidio.
The Austrian skydiver made world news earlier in his career after he famously jumped to Earth from a helium balloon about 24 miles above the planet, back in 2012.
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Local media confirmed that the 56-year-old lost consciousness while in flight, causing him to lose control of his paraglider and crash into a hotel pool, lightly injuring a member of staff.
Since the tragic accident, tributes have poured in from across the world, and now his wife Mihaela has spoken out to praise her late husband and show footage of him taking off paragliding.
In a post on X, she wrote: “I was filming him taking off not knowing that this will be his last flight of his extraordinary life.
“For over 12y I was there for every take off and landing, from skydiving, paragliding, helicopter flights, paramotor to aerobatic shows. And when I couldn’t be there for some heli flights, we had the WLC code - ‘the Wifey Landing Call’.
"Never missed one. Except …this one.”
The daredevil reportedly died instantly from the impact of the trash while the injured employee was rushed to hospital and is said to have suffered a neck injury.
Mihaela added: “Felix Baumgartner is going home now, up there, where he was the happiest ever.
“Thank you all for your support and for keeping his unique legacy high up. This man was truly special, in so many ways, and I’ll make sure I’ll keep telling his story.
“But now…., I have to deal with the shock, the pain, the sunrises where I get to make just one coffee, not two…”
Fans have swarmed to social media following the news to also share tributes to Baumgartner and his spectacular career.
One user wrote: “This death feels like Steve Irwin's; you expect it to be from something wild daredevil stunt but nope, just paragliding accident. Sad.”
Another added: “I remember his Red Bull jump from space. It was insane. He lost consciousness and came back to. Bro was beast and died being an absolute badass. You can rest peacefully now Champ, you did your thing.”
With a third simply writing: “A true daredevil and legend of human courage.”
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Ben McCrum