Skydiving may be on many people’s bucket lists, but it isn’t often somebody musters up the courage to jump out of a plane as a centenarian, let alone at the ripe old age of 104.
This week Dorothy Hoffner who hails from the City of Chicago, completed a 13,500-foot tandem jump in Ottawa, Illinois, 85 miles south of Chicago, which is likely to deem her the oldest person to ever skydive.
When Hoffner first embarked on her maiden skydive at the age of 100 she had to be pushed out of the plane but on Sunday, October 1st, 2023, sporting a blue sweater and an unwavering smile she left her walker on the ground and, attached to a U.S. Parachute Association-certified instructor, insisted on leading the jump.
Her Skyvan plane beat her back to the ground and when she reached the ground 7 minutes after jumping she proclaimed “Age is just a number!” to cheering crowds.
The current official Guinness World Record for the oldest-ever skydiver was set last year by Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson from Sweden. Aged 103 years and 259 days old at the time of her jump in May of 2022, Huffner is likely to officially break Larsson’s record once it is approved by Guinness World Records.
For now, Dorothy Huffner, who will celebrate her 105th birthday in December, has her sights set on getting back in the sky this time in a hot-air balloon.
[Featured image courtesy of Skydive Chicago]