Rietta Wallenda, 56, poised for comeback after frightening high-wire accident

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA)—Rietta Wallenda was born into circus royalty.  She’s the granddaughter of the great Karl Wallenda.

But her family’s legacy comes with tragedy.

In 1962, Rietta’s cousin and uncle were killed when their 7-person pyramid collapsed. When a movie was made about the accident years later, Rietta was a stunt double for the film.

Then in 1978, she witnessed tragedy firsthand as she watched her legendary grandfather Karl fall to his death in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“I watched him go all the way… fall 10 stories high, and he landed on top of a taxi cab,” she recalled.  “You don’t forget an experience like that.”

So, she carried all that with her on February 8 when her team suddenly lost balance.

• Related:  5 injured in high wire accident; They’re ‘lucky to be alive,’ doctors say

“Everybody fought to the very end and my idea, my thought was that, we’re gonna pull together, it’s gonna be okay, but it got worse and worse,” said Wallenda.  Then it collapsed.

“I don’t want to land on my head, I don’t want to break my neck, I don’t want to be paralyzed. I thought, maybe somebody will catch me or hit me,” she said.

But she kept falling.

“I did see the floor coming and I remember thinking how quickly it was there….The idea of being with my father, my Lord and my God in heaven, didn’t scare me,” Wallenda recalled.

PHOTOS: The Amazing Flying Wallendas Through the Years

FILE- In this Jan. 30, 1962 file photo, the Great Wallendas walk the high wire during their three-tier seven-person pyramid performance at the State Fair Coliseum in Detroit, Michigan. During the performance the pyramid formation collapsed and the performers fell to the ground injuring performers Jana Schepp and Mario Wallenda, as well as killing performers Richard Faughnan and Dieter Schepp. From left to right, bottom row, are, Dieter Schepp; Mario Wallenda; Richard Faughnan and Gunther Wallenda. From left ro right in the second row are Karl Wallenda and Herman Wallenda. Sitting on chair is Jana Schepp. AP photo

Nik Wallenda, a circus high-wire daredevil and the seventh generation of the Flying Wallendas circus family, pedals a bicycle on a wire 12 stories above the street in Newark, N.J., Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008. Wallenda was trying for a Guinness World Record for the longest distance and greatest height ever traveled by a bike on the wire. (AP Photo/Mike Derer)

The Wallendas perform their high wire act April 11, 1944, high above the ring at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Wallendas' program is part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. (AP Photo/DG)

Karl Wallenda, 62, on chair, of the famed “Flying Wallendas,” who quit act last fall, was back with the group as they performed in the Dobritch International Circus in Los Angeles on March 17, 1967. (AP Photo/Harold P. Matosian)

Circus fans in Akron's Rubber Bow watch the Wallendas, high wire artists, complete a performance which was interrupted by the fire on July 6 in Hartford, Connecticut which destroyed the Ringling Bros., Barnum and Bailey Circus canvas "big top," Aug. 5, 1944. (AP Photo)

Aaron DiAntonio, left, a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, explains to the Flying Wallendas, the legendary acrobatic team, from left, Olinka, mother; Aurrela, daughter; Alex, son; and Tino, father, how a gene was name after them Thursday, June 23, 2005. Washington University researchers named a fruit fly gene after the Wallendas because it interacts with a gene called "highwire" that affects coordination. The gene's name, Wallenda, is just one of dozens of unusual names given to fruit fly genes by scientists honoring a long tradition of attaching creative monikers to their work. (AP Photo/James A. Finley)

Henrietta Wallenda of the high wire Wallendas poses with a clown in New York, May 2, 1944. (AP Photo/Charles Kenneth Lucas)

The great Wallendas go through a practice session 40 feet above a parking lot in Hollywood, California on Feb. 20, 1964, in preparation for a TV show. (AP Photo/David F. Smith)

Even the little Wallendas are nimble enough to walk along on high wires. Here at the winter quarters of the circus are Carla, nine years old, followed by little four-year-old Mario, Feb. 28, 1945. The children are here with their parents, members of the Wallenda troupe, high wire performers. (AP Photo)

Shockingly, once on the ground, she was alive! But she had painful injuries and broken bones throughout her entire body.

“[The pain] is something that is indescribable. It isn’t anything that you would ever think that you would endure,” said Wallenda.

Rietta and her cousin Lijana were badly injured, and both spent weeks recovering in the hospital.

“That’s hard when you tell an athlete they won’t be able to get out of a wheelchair for several months,” said Nik Wallenda.

“I never quit, and it was difficult at times but I never gave up,” said Rietta.

Rietta says it pays to stay healthy, because thanks in part to her strength and physique, she quickly made a full recovery. She even plans to return to performing next month. And thankfully, all the other injured members have made full recoveries too.

“What we experienced, there’s no other way to express it other than it being a miracle,” she said.

Rietta is determined to finish out her career on her own terms.

Starting in June, Rietta will be traveling with Circus Incredible, performing in shows throughout the country. To ease back into performing, she’ll only be doing some light aerial performances, but she does plan to return to the wire very soon.

Nik Wallenda has talked to the group about finishing what they started with the 8-person pyramid—right now it’s too soon, but don’t be surprised if they go back at it again.  

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