That Time Bam Margera Almost Died in Louisville, Kentucky

For people of a certain generation, Bam Margera was a larger-than-life figure. Skateboarding subculture became mainstream in the early 2000s, thanks to the antics of MTV’s Jackass, and Margera was right in the middle of it all.

A top-notch prankster, he was at the top of the cast of Jackass characters. He also got his own show on MTV, Viva La Bam. His parents took the brunt of the abuse, but nothing was more amusing than when he enraged Don Vito. The subtitles turned into garbled nonsense during his rants against Margera.

The shenanigans stole most of the spotlight, but like Ryan Lemond and journalism, in his heart of hearts, Margera is a skater. He was not the best of the best, but he was pretty darn good and reckless. That combination nearly killed him during a pitstop in Louisville.

The Louisville Extreme Park opened in Downtown Louisville in 2002 with a ton of fanfare. Tony Hawk brought his traveling roadshow to Louisville to christen the new skatepark. Margera also flew in to make an appearance, but fans never got to see him in action. In a recent interview, he explained why.

“I show up at Midnight off a flight, and I’m like, ‘I’m going to the park. I don’t care if there’s no lights. I’m gonna cruise around and feel this park out so I know what I’m gonna do.'”

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This may shock you, but skateboarding in the middle of the night is not a great idea.

“I go straight for the full pipe,” Margera recalled, “and my back foot comes off when I’m about 13 feet in the air, and I just slam from 13 feet in the air, right onto my head. Boom! Everything was dizzy and stars. I couldn’t breathe.”

Margera was out of breath and concussed. He vomited before they took him to the nearby Children’s Hospital. There was a long line, so his crew quickly took him to another hospital. That’s where officials told him he would’ve died from a punctured lung if they didn’t take quick action. He broke a couple of ribs and ultimately had to take a $20,000 private jet to Philadelphia to receive treatment.

Guys like Margera abuse their bodies for pranks and risk it all while skating. Of all the hits he’s taken, he says the hard fall in the middle of the night in Louisville is the worst of the worst.

You can check out the full clip, but beware, it’s NSFW.