101-Year-Old Sets Record As World’s Oldest Skydiver

101-Year-Old Sets Record As World’s Oldest Skydiver

Mangalore Today News Network

May 16, 2017: A 101-year-old thrill seeker in the United Kingdom landed in the record books on Saturday when he became the world’s oldest tandem skydiver.

 

Verdun Hayes completed his jump from an airplane 15,000 feet above the ground in Devon, England, at the age of 101 years and 37 days young.

“Beautiful,” he told the BBC. “I’d do it again tomorrow. I would, truthfully. It’s lovely.”

Canadian Armand Gendreau previously held the record with his June 2013 jump from 10,000 feet in the Quebec area. He was 101 and three days old at the time, according to CNN.

Hayes said he got the idea to skydive around the time he turned 90 years old, but his wife wouldn’t let him. She has since died, according to The Guardian.

Hayes, a World War II veteran, took his first jump last year to celebrate his centenarian birthday.

“A lot of people ask me how I’ve lived so long,” he told The Telegraph. “I’d say, ‘Just keep breathing!’”

Hayes made this year’s jump to raise money for the Royal British Legion, a veterans support group. Ten members of his family also made leaps as part of the event.