Pressure-and-Release: Writing Shanghai’s Rooftoppers
“It made headlines around the world: The young man was doing pull-ups at the top of a skyscraper and let go. “Let go” might not be the right word: it implies intention. “Fell,” however, implies total accident. His arms gave out. He’d reached his limit. I don’t know, because I watched the video until that moment neared, and then couldn’t go on. It was snuff, I thought. To witness that moment would be to witness something horrible and real. His name was Wu Yongning. The tower was a 62-floor building in Changsha. He was performing stunts for a live-streaming challenge, reportedly to pay for his wedding and his mother’s medical bills. He was a rooftopper and he wasn’t the first to die.”
This story appeared in February 2024 in The Millions.
Photo credit: “Rooftopping on a roof in Hong Kong” by Mathieu Nonnenmacher is licensed under CC BY 4.0 International.