Falcon Heene: Balloon boy's family courted danger, "lived on the edge"

VANCOUVER — Six-year-old balloon boy Falcon Heene and his family, the focus of so much attention from news organizations around the world Thursday, are no strangers to the media.

The family were contestants last year in the wildly popular ABC-TV reality show, Wife Swap.

The Heenes were described as a "thrill-seeking family devoted to chasing tornados" while their counterparts, The Martels, were "a cautious family who always put safety first."

In the show, the female heads of both families switch positions for two weeks. Viewers then vote on who should wins the contest.

Falcon's Colorado family was described in daring terms. Consisting of wife Mayumi (43 at the time the show was shot) and storm scientist Richard (45) take their three kids, Bradford (8), Ryo (7) and Falcon (5), the family lived "life on the edge" taking the occasional "storm chasing mission" to test dad's theories of magnetism and gravity.

Mom, meanwhile, would roust her family on opportune days: "Storm approaching! Storm approaching!" she'd yell into a bullhorn. Luckily, the family slept in their clothes so they could make a quick exit into the storm.

The ABC document says Richard described the stentorian Mayumi as "his ninja wife."

While Richard jumped on his motorcycle to launch rockets into the eye of the storm, his wife films the twisters and various cacophonies that so bewitched the family.

Meanwhile, the kids lived somewhat stormy lives at the best of times. Young Falcon and his siblings "have no table manners" and "throw themselves around the house" while dad single-mindedly attends to his studies.

Like a lot of dads from a generation apart, he "expects Mayumi to cook, clean and run the house without any help."

The opponent family, the Martels, were far more orthodox. Dad Jay was "so committed to safety that he runs a child-proofing business devoted to identifying dangers and risks" to their well being.

The sad irony is, of course, that the media fuss — and a possible tragedy — may have been avoided if the wacky Heene's had adopted a touch of caution from the meeker Martels.

More to come.