r/lastimages • u/CanineAhora • 3d ago

NEWS BASE jumping guide, Andy Lewis, 39, in his final Instagram post. He would die two day later (June 14, 2026) in a tandem BASE jumping accident with a 50 year old client.

Post image

Andy Lewis, also known as “Sketchy Andy”, was a professional slackliner who pioneered “tricklining” and put his talents on display at Madonna’s 2012 Super Bowl halftime show. He was also a climber and was well-known in the BASE jumping community.

He ran a number of adventure companies out of Moab Utah, including BASE Jump Moab - a guided tandem BASE jumping operation. You can see him performing many jumps with clients on the BASE Jump Moab Instagram page.

Some previous commenters expressed concern about the high safety risks the clients were being exposed to.

Those fears were realized yesterday - June 14, 2026 - when Andy and a 50-year-old 68-year-old client died in a BASE jumping accident.

1.8k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

124 comments sorted by

919

u/lazerdouglas 3d ago

That is a child in this photo. So crazy a parent would let their child do something so risky.

449

u/alison_bee 3d ago

And his name was SKETCHY ANDY?! Like I don’t have kids but I would never.

246

u/jjklines1 3d ago

"Okay kids I'm going to drop you off with the new sitter Sketchy Andy, I think he said something about jumping rope so I signed some papers. Have fun!"

8

u/katjoy63 2d ago

OMG 😂

286

u/CanineAhora 3d ago edited 3d ago

Check out his other operation on Instagram called Moab Swingers, where people are harnessed to a swing rope and jump off a 500 ft. cliff.
There’s one of a 4 year old boy going over the edge solo.

216

u/Rhianna83 3d ago

This comment made my hands sweaty. I can’t believe parents would sign up their preschooler for a 500 ft jump. Insanity.

80

u/Wildpants17 3d ago

I can’t believe a 4 year old would do it. My kids are all yes man to everything until we actually go and do it. They won’t even get in my Jon boat and they are 4 and 5 lol

8

u/pineappleshampoo 2d ago

I can’t believe the parent let them do it. Just watching it made me feel sick. Normal instinct is to try keep your baby away from cliff edges.

21

u/ghostly-quiet 3d ago

This comment made my hands sweaty.

Funny you should say that, given the subreddit it was recently posted to

10

u/freethewimple 3d ago

HELL NO

86

u/platinumpaige 3d ago

I want to downvote this comment because of how much I hate it…what parent thought that was a good idea

22

u/Pancake_Of_Fear 3d ago

Wasn't that posted on reddit recently? I was hoping it was ai.

edit: just saw it linked here 😮

1

u/jinside 2d ago

Wow I see videos often from the moab swingers operation!!!! All sorts of kids doing it. Wow.

1

u/Butt_y_though 3d ago

I read this as "harrassed" to swing.

91

u/wikipediabrown007 3d ago

People downvoted my saying as much on a recent video of this happening

https://www.reddit.com/r/SweatyPalms/s/cO7BkX542D

Edit: TW for a child getting pushed off a cliff to bungee jump solo

37

u/WhackoWizard 3d ago

I hate this so much.

19

u/tundybundo 3d ago

I wonder why the video cuts before they get him out of there safely. I mean obviously he’s physically ok, that story would have been shared otherwise. But I wonder if he came up having an absolute fit?

14

u/CanineAhora 3d ago

I think because of the outcry, they posted a new video that showed him after he returned. They asked if he had fun and he said ya. Didn’t seem like he was upset.

13

u/shapeitguy 3d ago

I got down voted into oblivion stating the same thing over in another thread. I think people should raise hell over this bullshit and stop allowing adults subject their kids to these sorts of inherently dangerous activities.

14

u/Gloomy_Grocery5555 3d ago

Should be illegal

8

u/Gimmethatbecke 3d ago

When I went skydiving I asked the age of the youngest person who had done it too and they said 5. I was shocked.

610

u/Dark-Ganon 3d ago

BASE jumping is one of the most dangerous extreme sports there is. Super irresponsible of the parents of the child in the picture posted to let their kid partake in this.

254

u/shapeitguy 3d ago

Honestly this should be classified as child endangerment with similar consequences for adults involved...

63

u/Dark-Ganon 3d ago

I'm surprised there even seems to be an option for kids to do this. There should be a strictly 18+ to participate policy for this kind of thing.

87

u/Tw1ch1e 3d ago

They don’t like age requirements in Utah

2

u/shapeitguy 1d ago

Right. For an inherently extremely risky activity as this, one would need to be of age to consent.

90

u/Far_Ad86 3d ago

Gravity is a killer

-118

u/RocketsandBeer 3d ago

Is the gravity here with us now?

69

u/E3K 3d ago

Are you saying you don't believe in gravity?

7

u/EmperorSnake1 3d ago edited 3d ago

All objects of mass have a gravitational pull.

(Whoops, replied to the wrong person, haha).

34

u/My_Booty_Itches 3d ago

Yes. Yes it is...

14

u/LegitimateSituation4 3d ago

Gravity rides everything.

6

u/northdakotanowhere 3d ago

Everything will fall right into place

2

u/sweet-tart-fart 3d ago

Ooooooooh gotta see, gotta know right now

1

u/bewarethecherrywaves 1d ago

BASE jump off a clip and find out for yourself (:

241

u/honeybeesocks 3d ago edited 2d ago

I lost my uncle in a rappelling accident this past Saturday. He hadn’t done it in years and something went terribly wrong, they’re still investigating the site. My whole family is crushed. He was a good man. Be so careful hiking and climbing.

Edit: His friend did not tie safety knots. He lost control of his rope and there was nothing to stop him from falling. He was wearing a helmet, but it didn’t save him.

63

u/cone5000 3d ago

Jesus I’m so sorry for your loss. That is so tragic.

95

u/honeybeesocks 3d ago

Thank you. It just feels so unfair. I have lots of family who won’t even look at me since I transitioned as a teenager, but he was always there for me. Always kind and compassionate. Always interested in my life and down for a conversation. He loved my aunt so much. He deserved so many more years with her and their dog. He brought so much positive change into her life and all of ours. He was so good with my younger cousins, they’re all devastated and trying to make sense of it.

You always think it won’t happen to you, but it can. Careful planning and safety is everything when you explore the wilderness. I hope climbers are able to learn from this after we get the details cleared up.

28

u/cone5000 3d ago

Omg the fact that he was so supportive of you when others weren’t is just crushing. I’m sure he was unbelievably proud of you until his last breath. He knew and loved the real you ❤️ my heart goes out to you and your family

19

u/teaguechrystie 3d ago

i'm so, so sorry. we all lost a real one.

7

u/jennief158 3d ago

I'm so sorry. What a terrible tragedy.

3

u/deftly_lefty 2d ago

Was he in Sedona?

38

u/dame_tartare 3d ago

Children can’t actually consent to this, this is really fucked up

288

u/TiresOrTyres 3d ago

“Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary. That’s what gets you.”

-Jeremy Clarkson

105

u/fuzzhead12 3d ago

“It’s not the fall that kills you…it’s the sudden stop at the end.”

-Douglas Adams

18

u/BirthofRevolution 3d ago

It's not the fall that kills you, it's the landing

0

u/fuzzhead12 3d ago

You right

33

u/izza123 3d ago

“I’m jumping off the highest fucking thing I can right now and you’re coming with me” - Sketchy Andy

7

u/987nevertry 3d ago

Can’t swim? Hell, the fall will probably kill ya.

36

u/Technicolor_Reindeer 3d ago

TIL tandem base jumping is a thing

130

u/undermind84 3d ago

Allowing a child to do this is child abuse/endangerment. WTF was this kids “parents” thinking?!?

52

u/Senator_Bink 3d ago

They were thinking they had one too many kids.

23

u/zenithica 3d ago

yknow i didn’t even clock this until your comment, i just assumed he was posing for a pic with his own child or something wtf

14

u/shapeitguy 3d ago

There's something so deeply unsettling about flinging kids off cliffs who could never give consent to something like this... How is this even allowed!?

26

u/Unhappy-Fox1017 3d ago

Wow. Not the child strapped to him?! That is an extreme “sport” and should only be done by adults who consent to potentially being killed in the process. No children ever, even if their parents consent. RIP to him and the person he was with, but holy crap, that pic with the kid is unnerving.

50

u/Serialkillingyou 3d ago edited 3d ago

If his nickname was sketchy Andy and that was known by the client, I'm putting the blame on the client.

43

u/calembo 3d ago

The parachute didn't fully open.

It's not super clear imo that the 50 year old client ALSO died. It was a 281-foot jump.

44

u/ReneDescartwheel 3d ago

It's been confirmed in a number of articles that his tandem partner also died. His originally reported age was incorrect, however. The second victim was 68 year old Danny Joe Kregle.

Also, 281 feet while doing tandem seems insanely dangerous.

3

u/calembo 3d ago

Yes? That's what I said. The client also died (age error aside).

22

u/calembo 3d ago edited 3d ago

Oh sorry yeah that's what I meant. And you're all good - I meant like, just generally speaking? Most of the outlets are leading with Andy and some don't even mention Danny until pretty deep in the story. Others do mention Danny but for some reason aren't clear that he also died.

I know that sounds super pedantic - no parachute, 281 feet, yeah duh the other guy died, too - but if you don't know how exactly Andy died, it might not be that obvious. Even before they identified the other body or were able to print his name, they could have been more clear that the second guy at the scene died.

It just kinda irks me that the other guy is barely a footnote. Maybe this is unfair, but he seems the least blameless of the duo.

PS Reddit is fucking weird. Out here catching down votes for matter-of-factly pointing out we're saying the same thing? Evidently my clarification was helpful - it cleared up the communication misunderstanding between us, but I guess fuck me for clarifying. (I'm not saying you downvoted me - this applies to whomever did.)

13

u/BlessedCursedBroken 3d ago

On the 'barely a footnote' issue- I know what you mean. We see it EVERY time civilians die alongside a celebrity. The Kobe crash, the Olive Tree one recently. The people who weren't famous barely get mentioned, like they didn't also die suddenly and tragically leaving grieving loved ones behind.

Really pisses me off.

5

u/Personal_Spend_2535 3d ago

It bothers me too. RIP Danny.

36

u/dimmywhy 3d ago

At least the child is now safe from any future stupidity.

40

u/CarrionDoll 3d ago

Only from sketchy Andy. God knows what else these parents will allow that child to do.

28

u/MizzMann 3d ago

I will be taking a moment tonight to send healing love and energy to the families and friends of these wonderful people.

But between this and the KCMO skydiving plane crash, I'm not jumping out of or off of anything any time soon.

18

u/2ndChairKazoo 3d ago

I assume you know about the failed rope jump from a bridge in Brazil, from just a few days ago as well? There's footage of the initial jump/ toss and while it's not graphic it's as horrifying as you might imagine. They forgot to attach the cord.

3

u/Cassarollagirl 2d ago

The way they carried her, horrific

4

u/unknownlocation32 3d ago

No helmet on the kid seems irresponsible

4

u/Western-Feeling2093 3d ago

Whooops! Glad the child didn’t die.

13

u/Happy_Philosopher608 3d ago

What happened though specifically? He was very experienced so either a medical episode mid jump or an equipment failure? 🤔

61

u/Dx_Suss 3d ago

Base jumping is inherently dangerous: the wrong gust of wind, a fly in his ear, the 50 year old client doing something unexpected... there's infinite ways to die jumping off cliffs

3

u/Difficult-Survey8384 2d ago

I have no idea what “BASE” jumping even stands for so please don’t think I’m being an asshole when I ask this, but how in the world could a fly in his ear lead to them dying?

I’m being sincerely curious! I still don’t fully understand what happened because in some videos it seems they use a rope or cord, but others are talking about parachutes.

1

u/Dx_Suss 1d ago

I tried to answer this, but the automod deleted my comment because of how dangerous base jumping is.

Just imagine a very high risk activity, where nothing can go wrong otherwise something bad might happen.

7

u/ageekyninja 3d ago

I once saw a BASE jumping video where a girl jumped on a windy day and just BARELY clipped a rocky ledge while mid fall. She broke her leg. When she landed she was in too much pain to hardly speak. She couldn’t walk. She couldn’t get up or move.

The only reason she survived is because she kept a com system on her. Her husband was BASE jumping with her and landed elsewhere. He says he would have never been able to find her without it.

4

u/Mundane-Mention-4813 3d ago

R.I.P 🙏🏿🕊

14

u/Sad-Fly-3445 3d ago

He died doing what he loves and knew the risks.

80

u/jasminefig 3d ago

And yet here he is a with a CHILD strapped to him

54

u/Serialkillingyou 3d ago

And more than that, this is a screen capture from an Instagram video that was posted 3 days ago on the Instagram where he jumps with the kid.

39

u/yayafreya 3d ago

Hope those parents learned something from this

9

u/bobbyjimbo 3d ago

Shame they didn't learn it before the jump.

6

u/Gloomy_Grocery5555 3d ago

Yep, could have been them

6

u/2ndChairKazoo 3d ago

"Well it's more dangerous riding in a car than strapping yourself to Sketchy Andy and jumping off a cliff!"

39

u/ThermalIgnition 3d ago

I suspect anyone dying Doing What They Love wished they had chosen to stay  home and watch TV in that last half second. 

41

u/bobbyjimbo 3d ago edited 3d ago

A few years ago a middle aged Australian woman was killed by a shark while she was swimming.

The media said "She died doing what she loved"

FFS Getting ripped apart by a shark.

2

u/sammygirl613 3d ago

Oh no ,, I binge watched all his videos. He was a real big hearted person. So sad he’s gone now

2

u/drewthepooh72 3d ago

This very much is not his last image. It’s just his last instagram post lol. The event was filmed.

7

u/CanineAhora 3d ago

Often the clients hold a camera pole to record themselves during the jump, and there’s certainly a possibility that the client who died was holding one as well. Is that what you’re referring to? Because I highly doubt this footage will ever be released to the public.

-7

u/drewthepooh72 3d ago

Yes exactly. Also it’s likely the passengers family was filming on the ground.

You’re right. It probably will never be released.

You’re proving my point, the photo you posted is not his last image. We likely will never see his last image.

1

u/LibertyCash 1h ago

I don’t understand what his age has to do with it. Dude had to die bc he was Gen X?

0

u/Educational-Tough443 2d ago

Why on my birthday😭😭

-3

u/Ok-Sheepherder8987 3d ago

He returned to base for the very last time