David Kirke, the World’s First Bungee Jumper, Dead at 78

David Kirke, the man who carried out the world’s first-ever modern-day bungee jump, has died, according to reports. He was 78.

Kirke was launched into notoriety after he jumped off the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England, on April 1, 1979, wearing a top hat and tails while he held a bottle of champagne, theBBC,The GuardianandThe Independentreported.

Of the genesis of his “Dangerous Sports Club,” Kirke toldVanity Fairin 2004: “What we hated was the way that formal sports had all these little, important bourgeois instructors saying, ‘You’ve got to get through five-part exams to do this.’”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The group would go on to conduct other mind-blowing stunts, like sliding down a grand piano from the slopes of St. Moritz in Switzerland and even jumping from mobile cranes and hot air balloons, according toThe Independentand the BBC.

Speaking with the BBC, Kirke’s family called him a “free spirit” who “would never have changed the life he led.” They added, “He will be much missed.”

According toThe GuardianandBBC, Kirke said that the “real reward” of bungee jumping was that it made people he would never meet happy and that he had “given them fun.”

Kirke, who, according toThe Independent, died in his bed, would “have been shocked” to learn his fate, a family friend told the outlet. He added that he was “Byronesque in [the] thrall of living life to the full.”

source: people.com