Cannonball has happy landing

By KATHRYN WEXLER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 13, 2002

[Times photo: Toni L. Sandys] Related video 56k | High-Speed Atos Zamperla soars from the mouth of the cannon at the Florida State Fair on Tuesday as he volunteered to replace his brother, who was seriously injured Saturday when he missed the target cushion during the performance.

TAMPA -- Hundreds of spectators paused over their corn dogs and deep-fried waffles as the moment finally arrived: Would the Human Cannonball hit the cushioned target 70 feet away, or end up like his brother three days ago, in intensive care?

The announcer, speaking into the microphone on a gray Tuesday at the Florida State Fair, asked for a moment of silence for Ermes Zamperla, hospitalized after Saturday's accident.

Nearby, hidden behind the cannon, brother Atos Zamperla dropped to his knees.

"Good Lord, give me a good flight," he murmured, and crossed himself.

Then he hoisted himself atop the cannon, theatrically spread his arms to the audience, bowed, and dropped into the chamber.

Pop! A puff of smoke. Zamperla went flying. Some 70 feet away, he slammed directly into the 12-foot tall cushion.

"Hold on! Don't move!" shouted announcer Marco Canestrelli. "Is he all right? Is he all right?"

Zamperla leapt from the mushrooming cushion onto the dusty field. His fists punched the air in victory.

The crowd cheered. The media pressed forward. His sister Mafalda Zamperla wiped tears of relief from her mascara-lined eyes.

"If people don't believe in miracles, my brother's only here because of miracles," the triumphant performer told reporters.

On Tuesday, Ermes Zamperla was still hospitalized with several broken bones and was too groggy to remember the accident Saturday that sent him hurtling past his cushion and into a fiberglass fence.

He is expected to recover, his family said.

[Times photo: Toni L. Sandys] Atos Zamperla is congratulated by his sister, Tina Zamperla, center, and mother, Katy Zamperla, after the stunt.

Atos, his older brother, hadn't tried the family stunt for two years. But with United Shows expecting a human cannonball for the rest of the week while the State Fair is in town, he donned a yellow and black race car outfit and stepped up to help out the family, which has been performing in circuses for seven generations.

Atos, 45, insisted he did not have time to get nervous about Tuesday's stunt. But when family members examined the cannon to determine what went wrong with Ermes' leap, they couldn't come up with an answer.

On Monday, Atos canceled the stunt after several trial runs sent a crash dummy sailing straight past the target again.

More calculations followed. Atos is 5 feet tall, a good 8 inches shorter than his brother, and plenty lighter. All that had to be taken into consideration for the spring-loaded cannon's settings.

Family members reassured each other that everything was just so. But they were also scared stiff that it wasn't.

Atos, while performing the same stunt two years ago in Cincinnati, missed his cushion and ended up in a coma with shattered feet and hands and a broken pelvis.

But the show must go on.

"We love it," said Mafalda Zamperla, who angled the cannon for Tuesday's event and pulled the ejection lever.

"It's a family tradition."

Soon after the landing, spectators were straggling off for the candy apple booth and the Ferris wheel.

The announcer, Marco Canestrelli, took the microphone and called after them.

"I want to thank the Florida State Fair and United Shows," he said.

"And come back tomorrow," said Canestrelli, cousin of the injured Ermes Zamperla. "We'll do it again."

- Kathryn Wexler can be reached at (813) 226-3383.

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