Married in Mid-Air: Death-Defying Duo Honeymoons on Hawai‘i Island

Mickey and Purple Wilson are on Hawai‘i Island, enjoying their honeymoon, as many newlyweds do. There’s nothing unusual about that here in paradise.

But this couple is a bit unique; Not only did they have an extraordinary one-of-kind, death-defying wedding ceremony, the groom just happens to be a hero, who earlier this year, saved the life of a skier in Colorado.

Mickey, the groom, made national news in January. He is the professional slackliner who rescued a skier who was being strangled by his backpack on the chairlift at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado.

Mickey was riding on one of the chairlifts at “A Basin” when he noticed the backpack of one of his acquaintances had gotten caught on the lift as he dismounted. He was literally suspended by his neck as the lift headed back down the mountain.

Mickey and a group of bystanders tried to build a human pyramid to reach the victim but they kept tumbling down, news sources reported.

Mickey then realized that this might be the perfect time to put his slacklining skills into action.

For those unfamiliar with the term, slacklining is walking or balancing along a suspended length of flat webbing between two anchors. It is similar to slack rope walking and tightrope walking.

Mickey climbed the ladder on the lift’s tower, then moved hand-over-hand to the chairlift where the man was hanging unconscious and cut him loose.

“It was one of the most scary things I’ve ever seen, honestly,” said Wilson, recounting the rescue to a Denver Post reporter last January. “Just seeing a person get the life sucked out of them. I kind of stopped thinking and just started acting.”

A video of the rescue went viral.

The couple is here on the Big Island for an all-expenses-paid honeymoon that was given to them by the talk show host Ellen Degeneres when Mickey appeared on her show shortly after the ski lift rescue.

Mickey and the former Purple McMullen-Laird got married in a first-of-its-kind wedding ceremony on Aug. 26, 2017.

The ceremony took place in the Fruit Bowl just outside of Canyonlands, Utah—on a space net accessed only by slacklines.

Over 100 people gathered around the rim of the canyon to see Mickey, Purple and their officiant walk out on slacklines to a space net constructed by the couple, which was suspended 400 feet above the canyon floor.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the newlyweds dropped over 200 feet through a hole in the center of the net on a rope swing to begin their lives together.

Big Island Now asked the couple if they had planned any major escapades while on their honeymoon on Hawai‘i Island.

We can’t wait to hear back from them, but they are probably out on their latest adventure.

Keep your eyes open. You never know where you may spot them.

Mickey and Purple Wilson. Courtesy Nick Davis Photography.

Mickey and Purple Wilson. Courtesy Nick Davis Photography.Photography.

Mickey and Purple Wilson. Courtesy Bob Winsett Photography.

Mickey and Purple Wilson. Courtesy Bob Winsett Photography.

Mickey and Purple Wilson. Courtesy Bob Winsett Photography.

Mickey and Purple Wilson. Courtesy Bob Winsett Photography.

Mickey and Purple Wilson. Courtesy Nick Davis Photography.