This is the first picture of the British influencer who plunged to his death while attempting to scale Spain’s highest bridge without safety equipment for an Instagram stunt.
Lewis Stevenson, 26, fell from the 630ft Castilla La Mancha bridge on Sunday morning after ignoring his family’s pleas to call off the risky climb.
Speaking from his home in Derby, his grandfather Clifford Stevenson, 70, told MailOnline: ‘We all tried to talk him out of it. We were always trying to talk him out of doing things but that was the way he was.
‘He loved doing it, always went out there believing he’d be alright. He did what he did for his own pleasure. He did not get any money for it, he was an adventurer’.
Tributes to Lewis were led by his heartbroken girlfriend Savannah Parker, who revealed that the last thing he said to her was ‘Good night, I love you’ the night before his death.
Lewis Stevenson, 26, (Pictured) fell from the 630ft Castilla La Mancha bridge on Sunday morning after ignoring his family’s pleas to call off the dangerous climb
His grandfather, Clifford Stevenson, 70, said: ‘We all tried to talk him out of it. We were always trying to talk him out of doing things but that was the way he was’
Savannah, 25, an office worker, said Lewis had travelled out to Spain on Friday and was due to come home on Monday.
‘We spoke at half eleven and the last thing he said to me was, “Good night, I love you”.’
‘He messaged me at half five to say, “Good morning” with three kisses. I didn’t see it until quarter to eight.
‘I thought he’d just be trying to get a sunrise picture. I thought he must have stuck his arm out to get a picture and fell, not that he passed out.
Savannah said she’d gone with him to Malta last September.
‘On our last day he persuaded me to go with him into an abandoned building and I went with him but I was so scared because I don’t climb or do anything like that.
‘I said to him, “I don’t know how you do this all the time”. I was so scared of making one wrong move and that being it but we did it.
‘I was eager to leave because it was abandoned for a reason – it was not safe.
‘He was always going off doing stuff. It was hard to keep up. He went to South America for eight months last year. It was what he loved to do.’
Others involved in the high-risk sport of climbing structures without a safety harness expressed their sorrow at Stevenson’s death.
Others involved in the high-risk sport of climbing structures without a safety harness expressed their sorrow at Stevenson’s death online
Writing on Instagram a friend who shared his passion of what is known as ‘rooftopping ‘and uses the name Louie_W1 wrote: ‘Knowing you has been one of the greatest privileges of my life.
‘And losing you is the greatest sadness of my life. No amount of words on a stupid Instagram post will ever describe how much I miss you.
‘You will always be the bravest, most caring and funny person I’ve ever known. I’m proud of every building, every rooftop, every moment of our time together
‘My best friend, my brother. Rest easy, we’ll meet again one day.’
Posting a photo of Stevenson sitting on a New York City skyscraper, another daredevil called Vil1iany wrote: ‘In the past seven years you introduced me to a new understanding of freedom, which changed my perspective on life massively, giving me guidance on my own creative work always motivating me and inspiring me through your own creative consistency.
‘I’m forever thankful for the opportunities you gave me and the people you introduced me too.
‘You’ve been a prominent figure to me for awhile and your fearless mentality will stick with me for the rest of my life.
‘It was a pleasure to be considered one of your friends, rest easy now brother, I’ll see you in another life.’
Stevenson showcased some of his ‘rooftoping’ around the world on his Instagram page under the name expedition.
Dizzying photos of Stevenson atop a New York skyscraper and resting on a metal beam overlooking the City of London were among those documented by Stevenson.
A friend who also shared his passion of what is known as ‘rooftopping ‘and uses the name Louie_W1 wrote: ‘Knowing you has been one of the greatest privileges of my life’
Stevenson showcased some of his ‘rooftoping’ around the world on his Instagram page under the name expedition (Pictured in London)
A local Spanish councillor confirmed Lewis’s body was found at 7.14am on Sunday
Other photos showed the daredevil hanging from a structure in Croatia and a hotel roof in Mexico City.
One of his most recent climbing stunts on October 3rd was to the top of a stand at Nottingham Forest’s ground.
Authorities in Spain said Stevenson was accompanied by a 24 year old friend. He was said to be in shock at the tragedy but is unlikely to face any criminal charges.
The pair had scaled a quarter of the 630ft bridge when Stevenson lost his grip and fell.
Local councillor Macarena Munoz said accessing the bridge was ‘totally banned’ and said Stevenson’s body was found at 7.14am on Sunday.
Talavera de la Reina Town Council confirmed in a statement: ‘The Councillor for Citizen Security, Macarena Munoz, has confirmed the death of a young man after he fell from the Castilla-La Mancha bridge.
‘According to what we have been able to establish they had come to Talavera to climb the bridge and create content for social media, which has resulted in this unfortunate and sad outcome.’
‘The judge and the forensic doctor have already authorised the removal of the body, which has been transferred to the funeral parlour.’
A spokesman for National Police in Toledo, the province Talavera de la Reina is part of, said: ‘He was about 40 to 50 metres up, around a quarter of the total height of the bridge, when he fell.
‘The reason he fell is not clear and will be investigated by a local court.’
According to the local Spanish town council Lewis and a companion had come to Talavera to climb the bridge and create content for social media before the unfortunate incident
A source close to the investigation said: ‘Both the dead man and the companion that survived were climbing without any harnesses or other protection.
‘A passing motorist raised the alarm.
‘The other lad was in a state of shock initially and couldn’t even speak. He’s obviously still pretty traumatised but is not at the police station any longer.
‘He’s not going to be charged with any crime. Whether the local town hall decides to sanction him for doing something illegal is a decision for them.’
Investigators are expected to look into the possibility bad weather played a part in what happened as it is thought to have rained heavily in Talavera de la Reina before the tragedy, making everything more slippery than it normally would have been.
Lewis’s grieving girlfriend Savannah said she had been told he lost consciousness before falling to his death.
She said: ‘He didn’t just fall. He lost consciousness because he wasn’t feeling well. His friend who he was with sent me over his police statement.
‘He told his friend he wasn’t feeling well and he said, “Shall we go back down?” Lewis said, “Give me a minute”, and that’s when he lost consciousness and slipped.
‘I suspect that he hadn’t eaten because he wouldn’t care if he was hungry or thirsty, he’d do something.
‘He was a 26-year-old Englishman who fell while climbing the aforementioned bridge, something which the councillor has made clear is totally prohibited and that we have reiterated on numerous occasions cannot be done under any circumstances.’
Lewis’s (Pictured) grieving girlfriend Savannah has said she was told by his friend that he lost consciousness before falling to his death
‘But I don’t know, as long as I’ve known him he has never lost consciousness or passed out. I don’t know what happened, but that is what his friend told me.’
She said they had been together for most of the last 10 years and he was always jetting off on another death-defying adventure.
‘He has been doing this sort of thing for years. We’ve known each other 10 years and he’s been doing it for at least five of those years,’ she said.
‘Every time he went away I would tell him to be careful
‘As much as it worries me, I don’t look into things because I worry enough as it is and I just let him do his thing and generally he just comes back. This weekend he didn’t.’
‘It is one thing to hear that he’s gone but it’s how tragic it happened.’
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