Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Skydive Chicago
Topics: News
Stewart Perrie
A centenarian who broke the record for being the oldest person in the world to skydive has sadly died.
Dorothy Hoffner was all smiles when she made her history-making jump in the skies above Ottawa, Chicago.
The 104-year-old hopped into a plane in northern Illinois earlier this month and it climbed to a height of 13,500 feet.
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Strapped to a dive instructor, the duo jumped out of the plane and they enjoyed a few seconds of free fall before the parachute was deployed.
They spent a total of seven minutes in the air.
As she touched back down on solid ground at Skydive Chicago, the centenarian shouted 'age is just a number'.
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What a legend.
She said it was an incredible experience.
"It was wonderful up there. The whole thing was delightful, wonderful, couldn't have been better," she said.
She hit out at questions about her age after completing the jump.
Dorothy told the Chicago Sun-Times: “What has age got to do with what you’re doing? I’m 104 years old, so what?”
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A spokesperson for the Guinness Book of World Records said they were looking 'forward to receiving evidence from Dorothy’s attempt for our Records Management Team to review'.
The current record was given to 103-year-old Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson from Sweden after she jumped out of a plane in May last year.
When Dorothy skydived for the first time at 100 years old, she admitted the instructor helped push them out together.
However, for this record-breaking jump, she said she wanted to lead the charge.
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Sadly, Dorothy won't be around to see her name in the Guinness Book of Records.
She was found dead at the Brookdale Lake View senior living community.
Her close friend Joe Conant told AP News: "She was indefatigable. She just kept going.
"She was not someone who would take naps in the afternoon, or not show up for any function, dinner or anything else. She was always there, fully present. She kept going, always.”
Skydive Chicago has released a statement, saying: "We are deeply saddened by Dorothy's passing and feel honored to have been a part of making her world-record skydive a reality.
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"Skydiving is an activity that many of us safely tucked away in our bucket lists. But Dorothy reminds us that it's never too late to take the thrill of a lifetime.
"We are forever grateful that skydiving was a part of her exciting, well-lived life. Her legacy is even more remarkable because of the attention the world gave to her inspiring story."
Dorothy was set to turn 105 in December and she was planning on riding in a hot air balloon to celebrate.