1st of all it's Free Running (mostly cuz I'm not french) because Parkour is basically the same thing and 2nd all "extreme" sports carry risk of death, hence "extreme"! For heaven sake, one of the pioneers died doing it... it's dangerous. But it doesn't have to be!
I've done just about all of the "extreme" sports growing up and was landed in the hospital only once (roof of a 3 story building jump) when I missed my air bag... dumb luck that. And after learning that you can quickly get into a lot of trouble and get hurt or die free climbing I turned to boldering and top-rope climbing for added safety.
So some 15yr old kid falls from a parking structure and the news jumps on this as the latest deadly fad propagated by the evil internets! Sacramento News Seriously?! It's sad that the kid died, any loss of life, ESPECIALLY of youth, is tragic. However, if it was due to a poor choice then why wouldn't the responsibility fall on the youth who made the bad choice and not on the fad? What if the next fad was juggling flaming chainsaws and some kid thought it would be cool to try and killed or dismembered himself. Would it be the fault of the fad, or the internet... nope, the person who thought it was a good idea to light a running chain saw on fire and toss it up in the air, followed by two just like it... duh!
I think the best way to pay respects to this kid and all those like him would be to learn a little of his sport! Next time you're walking somewhere take a detour over a park bench or up the retaining wall. Jump around like a little kid, jump and roll off of something tall.
Why would anyone do anything like this you ask? The best reason was given by my then 4-5yr old nephew, "It makes my hair go up!"
