This week we lost one of YouTube‘s biggest stars at the unthinkably young age of 38.
In case you hadn’t heard, Grant Thompson — known to his millions of subscribers as “The King Of Random” — was killed on Monday in a tragic paragliding accident.
After Grant failed to make it to his landing point, a search team was sent out and located his body near Sand Hollow State Park in Utah.
His brother Mark Thompson confirmed Grant had been killed, but at the time details were sparse. We now have a better idea what happened.
According to investigators, an unexpected change in updraft blew Grant’s parachute up, causing it to malfunction in some way. The YouTube star was aware there was a problem and tried to save himself; he was able to activate his reserve parachute, but by the time it deployed, it was already too late.
Per TMZ, the entire incident, from parachute malfunction to crash, lasted less than four seconds.
The reason investigators know all this is because Grant filmed it. There was a camera rig attached to his paramotor which captured his final moments.
We don’t know if Grant had planned to post the video for fun or on his channel — he had been retired from hosting on TKOR since late 2017 — but it was a good thing he brought the camera.
Authorities have made assurances the video will never be released to the press or the public in any way. However, investigators were able to review the footage to find out exactly what happened — which helped give the Thompson family the answers they need.
Grant is survived by his wife and four sons.
Gone just far too soon.
According to the late star’s Instagram page, fans are welcome to come to multiple public memorial services for the YouTuber in his home state of Utah over the next few days:
- Celebration of Life: Saturday, August 3rd at 7 p.m. at Dixie Spring Park in Hurricane
- Public Viewing: Monday, August 5th at 6 p.m. at LDS Church in South Jordan
- Celebration of Life: Tuesday, August 6th at 6 p.m. at 12400 River Vista Drive in Riverton
According to the open invitation:
“Fans, family, and friends are all invited to the following memorial services for Grant. For those attending a Celebration of Life, we ask that you come with a memory to share. We will have a video camera for you to leave a message and memory and would love for you to share stories we can record on camera. Thank you.”
Grant’s channel is also saying goodbye.
New hosts Nate Bonham and Calli Glade paid tribute with a video compilation of Grant’s most unforgettable moments:
The channel also announced a scholarship fund in its founder’s name, the Grant Thompson Memorial Outward Bound Scholarship.
Outward Bound is a nonprofit which provides outdoor learning opportunities for children and adults. You can learn more HERE.
#RIPKing
[Image via The King Of Random/Instagram.]
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