October 21, 2003

NIAGARA FALLS, ONT.- "Similar to walking out of an airplane" is how Niagara's coroner described a Michigan man's plunge over Niagara Falls.

"Hitting the water (from) that height is typically a very harsh hit.

"It's the needle in a haystack. There's the fall, the obstacles, the impact and the issue of losing consciousness and drowning." Dr. Christopher Rathwell said yesterday of Kirk Jones's plunge over the falls Monday.

Jones, 40, of Canton, Mich., sustained "very minor injuries" and was recovering in hospital, said Niagara Parks Police Insp. Paul Forcier, adding he'd been given a psychiatric assessment.

Jones has been charged with mischief and illegally performing a stunt and is being held in custody pending a bail hearing.

"It was an intentional act; at this point, that's how we're investigating it," Forcier said. "Emergency services certainly do not want to glorify an incident like this."

Police would not discuss why they believe Jones climbed over an iron railing and leapt into the water above the falls. But they don't believe it was a suicide attempt, Forcier said.

Jones's mother said yesterday her son was fascinated by the idea of going over the falls.

"He said he always thought there was a spot you could jump and survive," said Doris Jones, 77.

"We would rather he hadn't done that."

Friend Eric Fronek, 21, said Jones had been talking about possibly going over the falls for weeks.

"He said, 'If I go over and I live, I am going to make some money,'" Fronek said.

One of Jones's roommates, Bob Krueger, took Jones on the trip to the falls, still not thinking he would jump, he said.

However, "before he knew it, he jumped in," Fronek said.

"No one believed he would actually do it."

CANADIAN PRESS

The New York POST

By MARSHA KRANES

October 22, 2003 -- The loony leaper who went over Niagara Falls without a barrel said last night he'd been in the grip of an "impulse."

"It was an impulsive, one-second thing, and in a second and a half I was in the water," Kirk Jones told Detroit's WXYZ-TV in a phone interview.

"I was in the water for about eight seconds. I was immediately enveloped by what seemed like tons of water."

Jones, 40, may have called it an impulse, but he had talked for years of launching himself over the mighty cataracts and into the record book.

And although his family didn't believe he'd really do it, yesterday they said he proved himself to be a man of his word.

"He said, 'Yeah, I jumped in the falls. It's a long way down.' It wasn't as cold as he thought. He sounded relaxed," said Keith Jones, his brother.

The lucky fall guy most recently talked of going through with his plot during a vacation to Niagara Falls with his parents, his brother said.

When he went home to Canton, Mich., he bragged to friends that he would make history by becoming the first person to survive a trip over the 150,000 gallon-per-second wall of water without any sort of safety device.

"He said, 'If I go over and I live, I am going to make some money,' " said friend and neighbor Eric Fronek, 21.

After the stunt, the daft daredevil's mom, Doris Jones, 77, said, "We would rather he hadn't done that. I don't understand why he risked it."

But his dad was impressed.

"I couldn't believe he did it and that he survived," Raymond Jones, 80, said. "He's got a lot more courage than I do."

The thrill seeker, who took the leap Monday, faces a psychiatric exam and the prospect of a $10,000 fine.

The only person known to have survived a plunge down the Canadian falls without a protective capsule was a 7-year-old boy who went over in a life jacket after a boating accident in 1960.

Jones' stunt stunned onlookers.

"He was face-up, wide awake, looking around . . . feet-first, like he was sitting in a recliner taking in the sights," said Tim Kopp, of Ohio.

"When he dropped down the falls, I thought he went right to the bottom. I thought he was dead."

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. -- The man who walked away virtually unharmed from a plunge over the falls said he had been suicidal, but the experience made him want to live.

"It was my full intent to end my life at those falls," Kirk Jones told the Niagara Falls Review yesterday.

"I feel that I reached out and touched the hand of God and he smiled at me," he said. "I'm grateful for a second chance."

Jones told the Review he decided to end his life at the falls following a family trip to the city two weeks ago.

The comments contradict statements from authorities suggesting Jones was simply a daredevil -- the latest in a long line who have sought to conquer Niagara Falls.

Jones, 40, was released yesterday from hospital into the custody of Niagara Falls police and was expected to appear in court in nearby St. Catharines, Ont., for a bail hearing today.

In a note to a fellow patient, Jones said life has much to offer.

"When you are feeling down, just remember the power of the Niagara," said the handwritten note, which Brandon Steward said was given to him by Jones.

Jones later told the Review he hoped to conquer his depression and "help others who suffer from this painful blackness in their lives." The location of the interview was not revealed.

His father, Raymond Jones of Keizer, Oregon, said his son sounded cheerful yesterday in a phone call from the psychiatric unit at Greater Niagara General Hospital.

"He feels peppy," the 80-year-old father said. "He fully expected to die. He was near death. He knew it. He thinks he was saved for a reason."

The Canton, Michigan, native is the only person known to have survived a plunge over the falls without a safety device.

Others have ridden in barrels or other protection; a seven-year-old boy wearing a life preserver survived in 1960.

Jones likened the experience to "being sucked through a garden hose.

"It was actually quite beautiful. I had inner peace, despite all that noise and violence."

Insp. Paul Forcier said the incident was not being treated as an attempted suicide, but Jones had undergone a psychiatric evaluation.

Forcier said police were reviewing a videotape shot by a friend who accompanied Jones to the park.

Jones was charged with mischief and unlawfully performing a stunt and could be fined $10,000 Forcier said.

Family and friends have said Jones had been considering the jump for years.

"He said he was going to be the first person to go over the falls without a life-jacket and he was going to be in Guinness World Records," said his brother Keith Jones.

"We never believed he was going to do it."