13 Facts About Butch Laswell

Sherman Dwayne "Butch" Laswell was an American stunt performer and professional motorcycle stunt rider.

Butch Laswell was a native of Las Vegas, Nevada, but grew up in Overton, Nevada.

Butch Laswell got his first motorcycle at age 15 and pursued desert motorcycle racing.

Butch Laswell began doing small performances and jumped over school buses and big rigs.

Butch Laswell then pursued his motorcycle career full-time and took motorcycle stunts and ramp-to-ramp jumping to the next level.

Butch Laswell then spent several years working for the Globe of death circus, where he performed a variety of motorcycle stunts never before attempted.

In January 1992, at the Vacation Village hotel, Butch Laswell established the world's highest motorcycle ramp-to-ramp aerial jump.

On Sunday, March 10,1996, outside the Oasis hotel and casino in Mesquite, Nevada, Butch Laswell attempted to jump over a 38-foot-high pedestrian bridge by driving up a steep ramp on a Honda CR500 motorcycle.

Butch Laswell then flatlanded from 65 feet high and crashed to the concrete below.

Butch Laswell had been trying to break his personal best of 41 feet high and set a world record.

Butch Laswell's trachea was crushed and his skull and chest were cracked, among many other internal injuries.

Some friends and associates said Butch Laswell was fearful of making the jump because of gusting winds.

Governor Lonnie Hammargren, a noted brain surgeon and friend of Butch Laswell, said he did not feel the paramedics responding to the crash provided adequate support to keep Butch Laswell alive.