E-Paper
‘90 years young’: Missouri woman celebrates 90th birthday by going skydiving, ‘It was just wonderful’
Eleanor Mann jumped from a plane 10,000 feet in the air with her family cheering on.
A Missouri woman is going viral for celebrating her 90th birthday by going skydiving. Eleanor Mann jumped from a plane 10,000 feet in the air with her family cheering on.
“You’re kind of close to heaven while you’re up there,” Eleanor Mann told KODE after coming back from the adventure.
This was not Mann’s first skydiving experience. On her 70th birthday, she leaped for the first time. She enjoyed it so much that she vowed to do it again if she made it to 90.
‘It was just wonderful’
“I just thought it was an interesting thing to do, and I loved it. Before just floating down through the air, it was just wonderful,” Mann said.
Mann’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren cheered her from the ground as she embarked on the adventure. “[It’s] a blessing that they love me so much that they would take their time and drive so far,” Mann said. “I just appreciate it so much.”
Mann jumped with an organisation named Ozarks Skydive Center. The company’s owner has said that seeing older people skydiving is one of the greatest parts of the job. “We love it. As much as we enjoy sharing the sport with everybody, we love to see those folks come out. It’s kind of a special thing for them,” owner Bryan Wolford said.
“And when we can share it with somebody at 90, that’s pretty, pretty neat,” he added.
Ozarks Skydive Center shared a sweet photo of Mann on their Facebook page, with the caption, “Eleanor is turning 90 years young, so she is going skydiving to celebrate!”
Mann is not even the oldest adventurer, as the company once had a 96-year-old jump.
According to the Guinness World Records, the oldest person to have gone skydiving is a Texan named Alfred “Al” Blaschke, who took a leap at 106 years old in November. To mark the event, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had joined Blaschke for the jump.
