Inquest told how trapeze artist died saving wife

A 26-year old trapeze artist saved his wife from death by throwing her clear before he was crushed to death by a steel ball, a coroner's inquest in Ennis, Co Clare, was told yesterday. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Vitaly Kharapavitski from Belarus died during a performance of the Royal Russian Circus in Scarriff, Co Clare, on August 28th last. His death was witnessed by more than 300 people, more than half of them young children, as his mid-air routine with his wife,Sasha, went wrong.

One of the onlookers, Patrick Doyle, told yesterday's inquest in a deposition: "As everything was going down, the man seemed to me to throw his wife clear and this saved her from certain death."

Pathologist Dr James O'Driscoll said he found Mr Kharapavitski's skull was fractured into multiple small pieces as a result of the incident.

In her deposition, Sasha Kharapavitski told gardaí: "In this act, both of us are suspended on a cage attached to a cable and a hoist." She said the incident occurred as she and her husband were finishing up their act. "I got into a harness and am suspended underneath. Vitaly is in the cage; he was leaning out of the bottom of the cage. Suddenly, I fall to the ground. I did not hear or see anything and all I remember is waking up on the ground."

"We put up the equipment ourselves. My husband is very careful and makes sure everything is secure with the equipment. We got the cables changed three years ago and they recommend that you get them changed every five years, so they are pretty new. It is not possible to put a safety harness on the cage."

In her deposition, eyewitness Lina Palaez said: "The two performers fell to the floor and the man was bleeding very heavily, and the girl was screaming."

Wayne Courtney, the owner of the Royal Russian Circus, said: "Vitaly fell face down and I believe that the steel frame came on top of his head."

He said that about an hour before the show they had performed a rehearsal and everything went to plan. "They are normally very meticulous in everything they do and if they had any doubt they would not have performed. There have been occasions in the past when the Belarussians have refused to perform . . . and I have always accepted whatever they wished."