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Home: news: Safety: Stunt Hero's Death Causes Heart Break

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Stunt Hero's Death Causes Heart Break

The 52-year-old ex-soldier who served with the SAS in Northern Ireland, was killed on a base-jumping expedition in Norway. He broke his legs in a parachute leap from the 3,000 feet Kjerag Cliff in Lysefjord. After lying for several hours on a ridge undetected Forrestal is thought to have attempted a second jump from the ridge and died when his reserve 'chute failed to open.

He was one of the leading stuntmen in the movie business and had just finished work in Dublin on Rebel Heart, a series about the 1916 Uprising. He had organised battle scenes and guerrilla ambushes in the Wicklow Hills.

"Terry was really enthusiastic about this series," says producer Craddock. He made a fantastic contribution to Rebel Heart and when it is screened next year it will be his fitting epitaph."Forrestal was born in Chesterfield and wanted to be a doctor, but he joined the Territorial Army in 1975 and graduated to the SAS at Hereford and became a senior NCO in Northern Ireland.

When he moved into the film world he quickly became established as one of the top stuntmen. He worked on films like Titanic, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves and several of the James Bond series and in television he was involved in arranging scenes in Danger field, Eastenders and London's Burning.

Forrestal,who was unmarried, was buried at Childrey near Wantage in Surrey. His freak death has sparked off a debate on the merits and safety of base-jumping.

To see more of the Belfast Telegraph or, to subscribe, go to http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

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