Skydiving, a sport that will require you to jump from a plane high up in the sky – with a parachute, of course – is not for the faint of heart. But, this 104-year-old woman from Chicago is breaking boundaries and showing off her courage as she attempts to become the world’s oldest skydiver.
Yes, you read that right. She’s 104 years old – and skydiving.
The woman, Dorothy Hoffner, left her walker for a while and climbed into a plane last Sunday to skydive.
It wasn’t her first time doing that, either. Hoffner first tried skydiving four years ago during her 100th birthday, but she wasn’t satisfied with how she did it then as she did not want to be pushed out of the plane. This time, she wanted to lead the jump.
On Sunday, she tumbled out of a plane flying 13,500 feet in the air with an instructor from Skydive Chicago. With her white hair billowing in the wind, she parachuted down to a grass landing area in Ottowa, a countryside in Illinois.
Her fascinating story has been featured in various news shows like TODAY, ABC 7 Chicago, 9 News Australia, and NBC Chicago, among others.
“Age is just a number,” Hoffner told the crowd that cheered for her amazing feat after she touched the ground.
After receiving congratulations and cheers from her family and friends, she was handed back her walker.
Hoffner resides in an assisted living facility in the Windy City, where she got the idea of turning this extreme sport into her hobby.
The official Instagram account of Skydive Chicago posted a video of her skydive. You can watch it below and be amazed. Indeed, age is just a number.
