Daredevil begins tightrope walk series

NIAGARA FALLS, ONT. (WIVB) - It was a good night to see a spectacular stunt high in the sky above Niagara Falls, Canada.

Friday night there were two things to see: the 10 o'clock fireworks they have each Friday night and a high-wire act. Three weeks after Nik Wallenda walked over Niagara Falls, another daredevil is taking on a feat that may be even more death-defying, and he plans to do it almost every night this summer.

It was contagious. People stopped almost dead in their tracks on the streets of Niagara Falls in Ontario and stared upward. Jay Cochrane walked the tightrope almost a quarter mile long from the Skylon Tower to the Hilton Hotel.

Texas resident Jean Wilkins said, "I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's just amazing that he's doing it without any safety nets."

Toronto resident Hrant Ketenjian added, "This guy is amazing. I'm wondering how he can walk all the way down from there to here!"

Daredevil Jay Cochrane says he's done this thousands of times. And though it was a hot night, and just as hot up on the wire, he said he was glad there was no wind.

"If it was easy, everybody'd be doing it," joked Cochrane.

Over 500 feet over the streets, this walk was higher, longer, and perhaps more dangerous than Wallenda's walk over the Falls. This 68-year-old walker did not have to wear a tether.

Cochrane said, "Nik and I are good friends. We talk all the time. He did a great job. It was the television company that insisted he wear it. He didn't have to use it. He's a professional wire walker. Eleven professional wire walkers made it across Niagara Falls before. We are not stunt people, we are professional athletes, and that's why we can do what we do."

After this walk, Cochrane hopes to walk the wire 81 more times. He'll walk every night on the Canadian side of the Falls, weather permitting.

Cochrane did walk a wire in Canada about ten years ago, but this time, it's all for charity. Tender Wishes and the Boys and Girls Club of Niagara Falls get 100 percent of the proceeds.

Find all the details on Cochrane and his series of wire walks here.