- Discovery Channel
- Lives on the edge, loves the Lord
Over the weekend, 29-year-old terminal brain cancer patient Brittany Maynard made final her highly publicized decision to end her life before its quality could be completely ravaged by her illness. Several doctors had told Maynard that even if they intervened she had no chance of surviving, so she decided to die gracefully, on her own terms, and as an activist at the forefront of the “death with dignity” movement. Still, there were people—the Vatican chimed in, of course—who condemned Maynard for being suicidal.
He’s also extremely confident in God, which probably helps. Wallenda was miked during his seven-minute walk from Marina City to Leo Burnett, and there was lots of chatter. Like, a disconcerting amount of chatter. At one point his father asked him to give the tightrope a bounce for the crowd to see, to which Nik replied, “I’m not going to do that, Dad.” (So he’s not totally nuts.) He also said, “I’m so blessed for these opportunities. God is so good. You guys think I’m crazy, but this is what I was made for.” By the end of the walk he was repeating God’s name like a mantra: “Praise God, God be the glory. Praise you, God, thank you, Jesus.” I guess the God bug bites you when you’re faced with dying for a living. And so Nik Wallenda will continue to defy death until one day he doesn’t—if it happens on the wire, I imagine people will praise him for going out on his own terms.
