His job description is “human cannonball.” And for 23 years, that seemed to have been working out for Chachi “The Rocketman” Valencia. Even his wife, Robin Valencia, is in the human-cannonball line of work.
But on Sunday at the Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival, one could see why being a daredevil isn’t for the faint of heart as the Rocketman missed his target.
The performer is recovering from his injuries after being launched about 65 feet into the air and slipping through a safety net during a performance at the Indio festival, fair officials said.
Valencia began his performance around 2:30 p.m., fair officials said via Instagram. He routinely pumps up the audience with a 20-minute speech before climbing into a cannon, according to his website.
Valencia climbed into a cannon that launched him about 65 feet high at speeds of 55 mph across a distance of 165 feet — where a narrow net was set up to catch him. The net is placed about 20 feet off the ground, according to his website. But instead of delivering a final heartfelt salute to the crowd, Valencia fell to the ground.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital around 3 p.m., fair officials said. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office told the Press Telegram on Sunday that Valencia sustained non-life-threatening injuries. And Riverside County Fair officials said Valencia was released from the hospital later that night.
Valencia says on his website he has more than two decades of experience as a human cannonball. He performed at the closing ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics, the 2014 Rio De Janeiro’s Carnival competition and became the first person ever to launch himself over a giant moving float six times in 40 minutes, according to his website.
Human cannonballs are said to be a small and select group. And they are no strangers to catastrophe. Following the death of one performer in 2011, a daredevil told the British online outlet the Independent that it’s a skill that requires the performer “to understand physics, mathematics and engineering” — and “you can’t be scared of anything.”
