The girlfriend of a British influencer who fell to his death while climbing a bridge in central Spain for an Instagram video has shared the last words he said to her.
Lewis Stevenson, 26, died while illegally scaling the 630ft (192m) high Castilla-La Mancha Bridge in Talavera de la Reina early on Sunday morning.
He and a friend are understood to have been climbing the structure without a harness for a social media video.
Mr Stevenson’s girlfriend, Savannah Parker, last spoke to him hours before his death.
She told MailOnline: “We spoke at half eleven and the last thing he said to me was, ‘Good night, I love you’.
“He messaged me at half five to say ‘Good morning’ with three kisses. I didn't see it until quarter to eight.”
Mr Stevenson is understood to have fallen to his death around 7.15am on Sunday local time (6.15am in the UK).
The dangerous practice of climbing buildings and structures without safety equipment is known as ‘free-solo climbing’ or ‘buildering’. Videos of the stunts are popular on social media, where they also draw huge amounts of criticism.
Ms Parker said she does not believe Mr Stevenson - who travelled the world free-solo climbing - slipped.
“He didn't just fall. He lost consciousness because he wasn't feeling well,” she told MailOnline.
“He told his friend he wasn't feeling well and he said, ‘Shall we go back down?’ Lewis said, ‘Give me a minute’, and that's when he lost consciousness and slipped.
“I suspect that he hadn't eaten...But I don't know, as long as I've known him he has never lost consciousness or passed out.”
She added that he has been carrying out stunts like the bridge climb “for years”.
“We've known each other 10 years and he's been doing it for at least five of those years,” she told MailOnline.
“Every time he went away I would tell him to be careful.
“As much as it worries me, I don't look into things because I worry enough as it is and I just let him do his thing and generally he just comes back. This weekend he didn't.”
Mr Stevenson’s family also “tried to talk him out of” his dangerous hobby.
His grandfather Clifford Stevenson, from Derby, told MailOnline: “We all tried to talk him out of it. We were always trying to talk him out of doing things but that was the way he was.
“He loved doing it - he always went out there believing he'd be alright. He did what he did for his own pleasure. He did not get any money for it, he was an adventurer.”
Mr Stevenson’s grieving girlfriend, named as Savannah Parker, posted an emotional message on social media saying she wished his death was “a nightmare”.
“It's 5am and I haven't eaten or slept,” she wrote, according to MailOnline. “Someone tell me this is a nightmare. I feel violently sick at the fact you're not coming back. Please come back. Answer the phone.”
It is understood Mr Stevenson’s Instagram page has now been deactivated, but friends and members of the free climbing community have shared tributes to him.
One friend wrote on Instagram: “Knowing you has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. And losing you is the greatest sadness of my life. No amount of words on a stupid Instagram post will ever describe how much I miss you.
“You will always be the bravest, most caring and funny person I’ve ever known. I’m proud of every building, every rooftop, every moment of our time together. My best friend. My brother.”
Another friend and fellow daredevil shared a number of photos of Mr Stevenson climbing, as he described his death as “like a bad dream”.
“In the past seven years you introduced me to a new understanding of freedom, which changed my perspective on life massively, giving me guidance on my own creative work always motivating me and inspiring me through your own creative consistency,” he wrote.
“I’m forever thankful for the opportunities you gave me and the people you introduced me to.
“You’ve been a prominent figure to me for awhile and your fearless mentality will stick with me for the rest of my life. It was a pleasure to be considered one of your friends, rest easy now brother, I’ll see you in another life.”
Mr Stevenson is the latest person to die as a result of social media stunts and filming gone wrong.
In July, 26-year-old Instagram influencer Aanvi Kamdar slipped and fell to her death in a 300-foot gorge in Maharashtra state in India. It is understood she was trying to film a reel of the Kumbhe waterfall for her social media accounts.
Emergency services rushed to the Castilla-La Mancha bridge around 7.15am on Sunday following Mr Stevenson’s fall, but were unable to save him.
City councillor Macarena Munoz said the climber had been accompanied by another Brit, aged 24, and that the pair had visited the bridge to create social media content.
“We have been able to find out they had come to Talavera to climb the bridge and create content for social networks, which has resulted in this unfortunate and sad outcome,” said Ms Munoz in a statement.She added that attempting to climb the bridge “is totally prohibited and which we have reiterated on many occasions cannot be done under any circumstances”.
The Castilla-La Mancha bridge stands above the Tagus River, around 120km (75 miles) south west of Madrid, and was opened in 2011. At the time, it was known to be the tallest cable-stayed bridge in Spain.
The structure features 152 wire ropes which are attached to the main concrete towers creating a fan-like shape.
Following the British man’s death, the local council is looking at making access to the bridge more difficult and at installing CCTV cameras to boost security, news outlet Ahora reported.
A spokesperson from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”
