‘Age is just a number’
A 104-year-old woman has broken the record for being the oldest person to skydive and she’s already lining up her next stunt.
Dorothy Hoffner’s leapt out of a plane at 13,500 feet in northern Illinois, is likely to break the Guinness World Record, once her jump is certified. The record is currently held by 103-year-old Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson.
“Age is just a number,” Hoffner told a cheering crowd after touching the ground Sunday at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, about 85 miles southwest of Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Hoffner did her first skydive four years ago after she clocked 100 years, saying the challenge “sounded interesting.”
Of her latest leap, Hoffner said: “The whole thing was delightful, wonderful, couldn’t have been better.”
The jump was originally scheduled for early September but was delayed three times due to bad weather.
Hoffner, who left her walked near the plane and was helped up the steps by instructors, reported said, “Let’s go, let’s go, Geronimo!” after boarding.
The dive lasted seven minutes.
Skydive Chicago is working to have Guinness World Records certify Hoffner’s jump as a record, WLS-TV reported, but she didn’t seem too fussed about it.
When asked what it felt like to hold the age-based record, Hoffner quipped: “Like I’m old.”
Hoffner encouraged everyone to try skydiving because it’s “surprisingly affordable and so peaceful.”
Set to turn 105 in December, Hoffner, who has never married or had children as an “unclaimed treasure”, says she might take a hot-air balloon ride.
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