Daredevil Attempts High Wire Walk Across Niagara Falls

Imagine walking across Niagara Falls, the largest waterfall in North America. It's hard to imagine anyone surviving falling into the raging waters.

But the risk of death is very real for Nik Wallenda, and it's a challenge he can't resist.   

He told INSIDE EDITION, "There is a serious element of danger, I could lose my life."

Nik's great-grandfather, Karl, was known as "The Great Wallenda." He survived the famous 1962 accident in Detroit that killed two family members.  

Nik said, "It's really in our blood, 200 years. I am seventh generation."

In 1978, "The Great Wallenda" himself plummeted to his death in Puerto Rico as he tried to walk between two hotels.   

Nik said, "When he lost his balance, he sat down on the wire as we are taught to do. He had a double hernia leading up to that, as well as a injured collar bone. And because of those injuries, he was not able to do what I will be able to do, which is hold on to the wire."

Nik and his mother just recreated that deadly walk for a Science Channel special airing June 18th. It gives you a sense of the extreme danger. This is definitely not a career if you're afraid of heights.

The Niagara Falls walk will be televised in a three hour prime-time special on ABC in June. There'll be a five second delay just in case something goes horribly wrong.

And of course, nothing's a sure thing in wire walking. Just last month while crossing Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Nik had a scary moment when he slipped on the wire.

Though, nothing compares to the danger he faces in the Niagara Falls stunt. The 33-year-old daredevil is practicing every day in the parking lot of the Seneca Niagara Casino, where the Falls loom in the distance.

Nik realizes that many viewers will be tuning in, thinking he'll plunge into the falls.

"There's definitely that thrill of, will he or won't he make it," he said.

But right now, he's trying to focus on what will surely be the riskiest high-wire act of his life.