Harrowing last words of priest who tied himself to 1,000 helium balloons before meeting tragic end – The Mirror US
Father Adelir Antonio de Carli strapped 1,000 helium balloons to himself in an attempt to break a 19-hour flight record to raise money for charity but just eight hours in he stopped communicating
A Brazilian priest met a tragic end when a bizarre stunt to raise money for charity saw him lose his life.
In an attempt to raise funds to build a shelter for local lorry drivers, Father Adelir Antonio de Carli strapped 1,000 brightly-colored helium balloons to himself and lifted off into the air from the Brazilian port city of Paranagua in April 2008. The 41-year-old hoped to beat a 19-hour flight record but things went wrong when unexpected winds carried him out to sea.
He had flown 55 miles when contact with him was lost eight hours into his journey. When he last made contact with authorities on the ground, Father Carli said he was having issues operating his GPS device and that he was "very cold, but fine".
It's believed he had reached an altitude of 20,000ft before descending to about 8,200ft for his planned flight into the city of Dourados. But winds blew him off course and before losing contact he revealed he would have to land in the sea as he was "losing height".
The priest, who was an experienced skydiver, had undergone survival training before the balloon flight and took five days of supplies with him. When he set off on April 20, 2008, he was wearing a helmet, waterproof coverall, and an aluminum thermal flight suit.
He also carried a parachute, a GPS tracker, and a radio to communicate with air traffic control. Rescuers were initially confident he'd be found safe.
Fire chief Johnny Coelho said at the time: "Given his physical condition and the equipment he was carrying, I would say there is an 80 percent chance he's alive." Father Carli had even undertaken a similar feat successfully earlier the same year.
In January 2008 he used helium balloons to fly over 110 kilometers in four hours between Parana and the Argentine city of San Antonio. However this time, things went drastically wrong.
After losing communication with Father Carli, search and rescue teams were deployed to look for the missing priest. Planes and helicopters assisted in scouring the waters.
Two days later, a cluster of multicolored balloons were spotted floating off Florianopolis, southern Brazil, where the priest was last heard from. But for months there would still be no sign of Father Carli.
That was until July when a body was discovered by chance off Brazil's coast. Tugboat workers found the corpse near the city of Macae. Eventually, DNA confirmed the body belonged to Father Carli.
"We were almost certain that it was the priest due to various elements, such as the clothes and material used in the balloon trip, the DNA only confirmed our suspicions," Macae’s chief of police, Daniel Bandeira, said at the time. The priest's brother Moacir de Carli said: "Now we can have a respectable burial service."
