A 104-year-old woman who was the oldest person in the world to go skydiving has died just days after completing the incredible feat. Dorothy Hoffner jumped from a plane in the skies above Ottawa, Chicago earlier this month, dropping from a height of 13,500 feet. She believed that “age is just a number” and was lucky enough to complete her lifelong goal just days before she passed away.
- Dorothy loved skydiving. After completing her jump, she admitted she felt exhilarated by the experience. “It was wonderful up there. The whole thing was delightful, wonderful, couldn’t have been better,” she said. What an incredible lady!
- Many people believed she was too old to go skydiving. However, she disagreed. She refused to let her age keep her from doing the things she loved in life. “What has age got to do with what you’re doing? I’m 104 years old, so what?” she told the Chicago Sun-Times.
- She’s likely to end up in the Guinness Book of World Records. No one has completed a successful skydive at such an advanced age, which means that Dorothy Hoffner has likely set a world record. “We’re looking forward to receiving evidence from Dorothy’s attempt for our Records Management Team to review,” a spokesperson for the Guinness Book of World Records said in a statement. The current record is held by 103-year-old Lineea Ingegard Larsson from Sweden.
- This wasn’t Dorothy’s first time skydiving. In fact, her first jump came four years ago, when she was 100 years old. The instructor had to push them out together since she was so nervous. That wasn’t the case this time — she was quite happy to take the lead!
- Sadly, Dorothy Hoffner was found dead at Brookdale Lake View senior living community. “She was indefatigable. She just kept going,” her friend Joe Conant told AP News. “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, the company that led Dorothy’s jumps, released a statement in the wake of her passing. “We are deeply saddened by Dorothy’s passing and feel honored to have been a part of making her world-record skydive a reality,” the company said. “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.” Rest in peace, Dorothy Hoffner!
