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Irene O’Shea prepares for her skydive. Photo: AP

102-year-old Australian great-grandmother poised to become world’s oldest skydiver

  • Irene O’Shea jumped to raise awareness of motor neurone disease, which killed her 67-year-old daughter
  • Her jump is now under review by the Guinness Book of World Records
Australia

A 102-year-old Australian great-grandmother steadied herself on a cane as she walked to an aeroplane, stepped inside, flew up to 14,000 feet – and jumped out.

Irene O’Shea safely landed her tandem parachute jump on Sunday, saying it was similar to the two other jumps she has made, when she was 100 and 101.

“I felt normal, about the same” as during previous jumps, she told Australian newspaper The Advertiser about her parachuting in Langhorne Creek, a town in South Australia.

O’Shea has been jumping out of planes to raise awareness and money for motor neurone disease, a degenerative condition that killed her daughter, Shelagh FitzHenry, at 67.

Her bravery is a testament to both a mother’s unending love and bottomless grief.

“I lost my daughter to that terrible disease 10 years ago, and I miss her,” O’Shea told The Advertiser.

Mike FitzHenry, Shelagh’s husband, told the news site that the family spent tens of thousands of dollars on stem cell treatment in China, to no avail. “It was tormenting,” he said.

Hoping to help find a cure for the disease, O’Shea’s skydive last year raised about A$12,000 (US$8,600), and she’s aiming to raise another A$10,000 (US$7,200) from her most recent jump. The money will go to the Motor Neurone Disease Association of South Australia, according to a GoFundMe page set up to collect donations.

O’Shea starts her tandem. Photo: AFP

O’Shea is also vying to claim the designation of oldest female tandem sky jumper in the world, knowing that the elder competition might get some buzz for her cause. She applied for the designation after her jump on Sunday, and might end up being the oldest tandem jumper in the world, male or female.

Guinness World Records recognises only oldest male and female in the category, rather than the oldest person, said spokeswoman Rachel Gluck.

The title for oldest female tandem jumper is held by Estrid Geertsen, who in 2004 made a 13,000-foot jump in Denmark when she was 100 years old and 60 days, Gluck said. Geertsen has since died.

News accounts show that the oldest male tandem jumper is 102-year-old Ken Meyer of New Jersey, who made his jump last year. His achievement is under review by Guinness World Records staff, Gluck said.

O’Shea during her skydive tandem jump. Photo: AFP

If O’Shea is certified in the female category, she will also best Meyer, as she was 102 years and 193 days – three weeks older than Meyer when he made his jump.

O’Shea made her achievement with paramedic Jed Smith, 24, the instructor who took her on her other two jumps, according to the website for SA Skydiving, the company that took O’Shea on her adventures.

“Irene and Jed completed a smooth, beautiful free fall, falling at 220 kilometres per hour (137mph) through wispy clouds, before a smooth parachute opening,” it said.

Jed Smith gives the thumbs up as O’Shea braces for landing. Photo: AFP

Her family was there to cheer her on. But they did not always support her daredevil stunts, according to the website Now To Love.

When O’Shea told her family – a son, five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren – about her idea to jump out of an aeroplane, they did not support it.

“My initial reaction was, ‘Ah no’,” said O’Shea’s granddaughter Emma Skully. But once Skully learned what was behind it, she came around, saying she did not want to get between her grandmother and the cause that is so close to her heart.

O’Shea and Smith land safely. Photo: AFP

“I was apprehensive about her doing it at 100. It seemed to come out of nowhere,” Skully said. “But she said it was something she’d always wanted to do, and I was proud of her courage.”

O’Shea is healthy, living in the same home she moved into when she arrived in Australia from England in 1974, according to local newspaper The Advocate. She drives her own car and does not need reading glasses.

Even though it looks as if she’ll be awarded the oldest tandem jumper honour, she’s not resting on her laurels. “Possibly I will jump next year,” she said. “And if I live long enough, I’ll jump at 105.”

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