As an expectant crowd of around 1,500 watched, young Shropshire stuntrider Kirk Owen surveyed the jump he was about to attempt over the River Teme at Ludlow on his 250cc Suzuki motorcycle. And realised he wouldn’t make it.
The date was December 8, 1985, and 20-year-old Kirk from Ludlow was looking to create a new European record with the charity jump which was in support of an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to save the town’s Clifton Cinema.
Here, with the help of his recollections of that day of disaster in an interview years later, and pictures from the Star’s photographer on the spot, is the story of his spectacular exploit.
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5. There was cheering and crying
"I wanted to get up. I wanted to walk out of there. There's a picture of me raising my left hand and if you want to know what it's like to score the winning goal in an FA Cup, that's what it's like. People were cheering and crying, because there are a lot of emotions. A lot of people had gone to see me crash. They got their wish. Nobody wants to see you die and because I wasn't moving, nobody knew." | Shropshire Star
6. Stretcher case
"I had shattered my pelvis in four places. I had badly broken my wrist, broken six ribs, and because of the knock on my head I had partially lost the sight in my right eye." | Shropshire Star
7. Thumbs up at the start of a long hospital stay
"When I got to hospital they must have thought I was Eddie Kidd because I have never seen so many nurses come to a trolley. When they realised I was not Eddie Kidd, there was nobody. Little things like that stick in your mind." Kirk, pictured here at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital the day after his accident, would spend nearly a month in hospital recovering from his injuries. | Shropshire Star
8. "The itch is always there to do it again."
"Fifty per cent say I didn't make it, and 50 per cent say I did make it," said Kirk, seen here in 2002 when he reminisced about the jump. The accident didn't put him off. "Five months later I jumped 100ft of fire at Tenbury. Adrenaline is a very powerful drug." And he added back then: "The itch is always there to do it again. In one way, I would really love for somebody else to do the Ludlow jump, but if that happened I know what I would do. I would end up jumping on a bike and doing it as well." | Shropshire Star