Sherman Dwayne "Butch" Laswell (October 12, 1958 – March 10, 1996) was an American

stunt performer A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

and professional motorcycle stunt rider. Laswell died after sustaining injuries during a live stunt in front of a crowd of spectators, while attempting to carry out a dangerous motorcycle jump in

Mesquite, Nevada Mesquite is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States adjacent to the Arizona state line and northeast of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 20,471. The city is located in the Virgin River valle ...

. The accident was captured on camera.

Career

Laswell was a native of

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, but grew up in

Overton, Nevada Overton is a community that is part of the unincorporated town of Moapa Valley in Clark County, Nevada. Overton is on the north end of Lake Mead. It is home to Perkins Field airport and Echo Bay Airport. History Overton was originally settle ...

. From a young age he became a fan of

Evel Knievel Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel (; October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007) was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over the course of his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motor ...

, which is what first led him to pursue motorcycle stunt riding. At age 12 he began building ramps and jumping over his parents car on his bicycle. Laswell got his first motorcycle at age 15 and pursued desert motorcycle racing. By age 17 he was one of Nevada's top desert bike racers and achieved a professional status two years later. Laswell's true passion, however, was in motorcycle jumping. He began doing small performances and jumped over school buses and big rigs. One of Laswell's earliest achievements was when he beat the World's Long Distance Jump Record of 176 feet, which he achieved in 1981 when he jumped 180 feet on a 440 Maico. He then pursued his motorcycle career full-time and took motorcycle stunts and ramp-to-ramp jumping to the next level. In the 1980s Laswell filmed a TV commercial for the US Coast Guard and appeared in the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show, ''

That's Incredible! ''That's Incredible!'' is an American reality television show that aired on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network from 1980 in television, 1980 to 1984 in television, 1984. In the tradition of ''You Asked for It'', ''List of ...

'', in which he filmed a world record wheelie demo. He then spent several years working for the

Globe of death The Globe of Death is a circus and carnival stunt where stunt riders ride motorcycles inside a mesh sphere ball. It is similar to the wall of death, but in this act riders can loop vertically as well as horizontally. There have been three performa ...

circus, where he performed a variety of motorcycle stunts never before attempted. In January 1992, at the

Vacation Village Vacation Village was a hotel and casino located on of land at 6711 South Las Vegas Boulevard in Enterprise, Nevada. The Heers family initially purchased of land in 1964, and planned to have a hotel and casino built on the property. Constructio ...

hotel, Laswell established the world's highest motorcycle ramp-to-ramp aerial jump. He set the record at 41 feet.

Death

On Sunday, March 10, 1996, outside the

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

hotel and casino in

, Laswell attempted to jump over a pedestrian bridge by driving up a steep ramp on a Honda CR500 motorcycle. As he made the jump and became airborne, he was blown off course in mid-air. Crosswinds and excessive speed pushed Laswell to the left of the landing ramp. Laswell then flatlanded from high and crashed to the concrete below. According to witnesses Laswell tried to steer his bike away from the crowd. Laswell had been trying to break his personal best of high and set a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

. Laswell's trachea was crushed and his skull and chest were cracked, among many other internal injuries. Footage of the accident was also captured on camera by movie crews who were filming the event live. Paramedics took Laswell back toward

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

in an ambulance, meeting a

Flight for Life Flight for Life is a prehospital care service with many bases of operation across the United States. Flight for Life is primarily known for its emergency medical helicopter transport, but also operates a fleet of land vehicles and fixed-wing airc ...

helicopter next to the highway for a transfer. Laswell died in the helicopter during the transfer and was pronounced dead at 4:39 p.m.

Aftermath

Some friends and associates said Laswell was fearful of making the jump because of gusting winds. Others said he was determined to carry out the jump to avoid disappointing a crowd of thousands that had gathered to watch him, as well as movie crews who were filming the scene. Laswell's closest friends blamed the wind for the failed jump. Laswell's manager, Douglas MacValley, contends the disaster resulted from a mechanical problem and a strategic error. Lt. Governor Lonnie Hammargren, a noted brain surgeon and friend of Laswell, said he did not feel the paramedics responding to the crash provided adequate support to keep Laswell alive. Hammargren was in the crowd and was reportedly pushed away from Laswell's body by emergency personnel after the crash. Hammargren rode with Laswell in the

helicopter, where he succumbed to his injuries. Laswell was then flown to University Medical Center. Hammargren has stated publicly that a

tracheotomy Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision (cut) on the anterior aspect (front) of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (windpipe). The ...

was necessary to keep Laswell alive, but was not performed by Mesquite paramedics. Footage of the fatal stunt was caught on video camera by movie crews who were filming the event live. The footage has been shown on television documentaries as well as the 1998

shockumentary Mondo films are a subgenre of exploitation films and documentary films. Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble a pseudo-documentary and usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits of mondo films include por ...

film, ''

Banned from Television Joseph R. Francis (born April 1, 1973) is an American entrepreneur, film producer and the founder and creator of the Girls Gone Wild entertainment brand. Francis worked as a production assistant on the syndicated program ''Real TV'' before rele ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laswell, Butch 1958 births 1996 deaths Accidental deaths in Nevada American motorcycle racers American stunt performers Filmed deaths in motorsport Filmed deaths in the United States Motorcycle road incident deaths Motorcycle stunt performers People from Las Vegas Road incident deaths in Nevada Sports deaths in Nevada Sportspeople from Nevada

Career

Death

Aftermath

See also

References