Daredevil seeks statue for Red Hill in Falls

From the Niagara Falls Review:

One of the last men to go over the falls in a barrel wants to see a proper memorial for one of Niagara Falls’ most legendary figures.

Peter DeBernardi, who survived a 1989 trip over the Horseshoe Falls in a barrel he shared with Jeffrey Petkovich, is trying to raise awareness for a possible statue of famed river man Red Hill Sr. somewhere along the Niagara Parkway.

Hill Sr., who died in 1942, was responsible for saving 28 lives and retrieving 177 bodies from the Niagara River. He was also a renowned daredevil, surviving five trips through the Niagara Gorge rapids in assorted barrels.

Hill is synonymous with Niagara Falls lore, such as the time he saved a boy after the ice bridge broke in 1912. In those days, tourists would venture out onto the ice that formed at the base of the falls.

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