05 February 2016
Newsdesk
Carey Hart has been left "angry, heartbroken and just sad" by Dave Mirra's reported suicide.
The 41-year-old BMX champion was found in his truck with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Greenville, North Carolina, on Thursday afternoon (04Feb16). He is survived by wife Lauren and their daughters Madison and Mackenzie.
Following the sad news, Pink's husband Carey, a famous freestyle motocross and motorcycle rider himself, took to Twitter to pay tribute to his friend.
“I’m in complete shock. Angry, heartbroken and just sad at the passing of my friend Dave," he wrote. "Heartbroken 4 (sic) his daughters and wife.”
Skateboarder Tony Hawk, who is currently tied with Mirra and Joe Parsons as the athletes to win 14 medals the fastest at ESPN's X Games, shared a touching picture of the late sportsman-turned-television personality on his Instagram page.
"Goodbye Dave Mirra, a true pioneer, icon and legend," he captioned the shot. "Thank you for the memories... we are heartbroken."
Fellow BMX legend T.J. Lavin, who was a close friend, told TMZ.com: "I just wish he would have called me. I would have jumped on a plane in a second. There's always another way. If anyone needs help, just please get it. I feel sick about this.".
But it wasn't just sports personalities who paid tribute to Mirra following his passing.
Oscar-nominated Whiplash actor Miles Teller kept it simple with his tweet, "RIP Dave Mirra... Damn", while Scandal star Joshua Malina wrote, "R.I.P. Dave Mirra. So sad."
Mirra was considered a trailblazer in the world of BMX (bicycle motocross), and he landed a total of 24 medals from the annual X Games competition.
Mirra also served as the host of MTV's reality competition programme The Challenge from 2004 to 2005.
After the tragic news of his death, his The Challenge co-host Mark Long said he will be "dearly missed".
"Dave was an early fixture on the MTV Challenge franchise," Mark told Entertainment Tonight in a statement. "He was one of the first extreme sports figures to make the jump from competing to hosting. He was a mild mannered man on set that always seemed to be focused on doing a great job. He will be dearly missed within the MTV family."
