A thrill-seeking great-grandma has celebrated her 90th birthday by taking to the air and skydiving from 15,000 feet.
Patricia Baker, from Lancashire, said it felt awesome to plunge from a whopping three miles up in testing conditions.
Photos and videos show the widowed gran-of-10 dressed in a red jumpsuit, flying through the sky.
Patricia said she wasn’t too worried about the jump as she keeps herself fit by doing 50 sit-ups every morning.
The main motivation behind her adventure was to raise money for charity.
Speaking shortly after landing, the daredevil grandma said: ‘It felt awesome, a little bit scary but absolutely awesome.
‘I was a bit nervous when I was sitting with my legs off the plane but then we were off.
‘It was an incredible experience to fly through the air like that.
‘I did have a bit of a shock when the parachute went off because it jerked me back, so I am a little bit sore now – I’ll be fine tomorrow though.’
Patricia got the idea to skydive earlier this year while talking to a friend who mentioned she has a bucket list.
The retired factory worker said: ‘I realised I didn’t have one so thought I better think of something to do to celebrate my birthday.
‘I’ve always quite liked the idea of skydiving so I thought, “let’s do that then”.
Due to her age, Patricia’s doctor wouldn’t sign a medical form enabling her to dive, so she had to go to the dive centre and pass a medical test.
Lockdown threw another spanner in the works as she wasn’t able to do the jump on the original date, which was just a few days before her birthday in July.
Mum-of-three Patricia finally got the jump done at Black Knights Parachute Centre this week.
Her daughter Carole, who was watching from the ground, said: ‘It was quite nerve-wracking to watch.
‘She actually landed half a mile horizontally from where she jumped because she was blown across.
‘I was definitely happy when she landed safely.’
Patricia used the jump to raise money for two causes close to her heart.
One fundraiser has been set up to help build a sensory room at the school her special needs great-grandson attends.
And another is dedicated to Derian House Children’s Hospice, for the ‘fantastic work they do’.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/05/thrill-seeking-grandma-celebrates-90th-birthday-skydiving-15000-feet-13375368/
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