before the walk started, wallenda and his family prayed with evangelist and family friend joel osteen. he was then helicoptered to an island in the middle of the canyon to start his journey. to limit environmental impact, the event was not open to the public. members of the press were required to sign a waiver saying they would not sue for post-traumatic stress disorder in the event that wallenda fell. an armed security guard was positioned at the bottom of the canyon to protect his body from animals.