Beccles, UK – A British A woman celebrated her 102nd birthday by skydiving out of an airplane on Sunday and said she hoped her daredevil antics could inspire other older people to stay active.
A British woman celebrated her 102nd birthday with a skydive and said she hoped her daring antics could inspire other older people to stay active (symbol image). © Unsplash/Kamil Pietrzak
Manette Baillie said it was “a bit scary,” adding: “I have to admit, I closed my eyes quite tightly.”
Baillie told BBC radio that she just wanted “other people who are approaching 80 or 90 not to give up. Just keep going.”
It is not the first time that the centenarian from the village of Benhall Green in eastern England has taken on a daring challenge.
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To mark her 100th birthday two years ago, she drove a Ferrari around the Silverstone race track at 210 km/h.
During the parachute jump at Beccles airfield, Baillie jumped from a height of over 2,000 metres, with an assistant strapped into the harness with her.
Baillie said she was inspired to take action when she heard about a friend’s 85-year-old father who had done a skydive.
“If an 85-year-old man can do it, I can do it too,” she said.
