It all began when my son and daughter-in-law asked me what I wanted to do for my 95th birthday. I jokingly said, “Jump out of a plane,” laughing away.
Then I thought to myself, ‘I can do this’. My son Nigel said, “Mum, you can do anything.”
I had to get the doctor’s okay to do this. If I had got on the plane and had heart problems, I wouldn’t have been able to jump.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. There are loads of people out there that could do it. I would recommend it. If you are afraid, don’t do it.
That was back on August 2. We then began the wait for the perfect weekend weather, which wasn’t until August 26.
We went out to Parakai, due for an 11am start, but there were so many groups of people celebrating things like a stag party, birthday party, anniversary etc, so it ended up being 1pm since I was on my own. It was a lovely atmosphere of celebrations during that wait.
They gave us a briefing about what we had to do. I was told I had to take my teeth out, in front of everybody, which was quite embarrassing! But when you get to 95, you don’t give a damn! I also had to take my hearing aids out. You had a hood and goggles.
The most embarrassing part was getting onto the plane because there were high steps and no bar to hoist myself onto. The chap I was going to be strapped to had to push me from behind – it was most undignified!
He managed to get me on and we got seated. The other crowd of six got onto the plane. I was strapped to the front of the assistant.
Off the plane went into the sky. I was fine, no fear, I wasn’t afraid at all. I was last to jump. As I sat on the edge, I was a bit afraid. It was as we jumped and that initial drop, my stomach came up into my mouth! Once the parachute opened and we sailed, it was lovely. With a beautiful landing.
There were two girls with the crowd we met before who helped me to reception. Everyone was waiting for me; they all clapped and cheered. I felt like the Queen! They all sang Happy Birthday to me. They asked me to do a speech, but I was so overwhelmed. They were all shaking my hand. I was so full up; it was so lovely.
“Mum, I’m so proud of you!” I even had a phone call from two other retirement places, who had heard about it and were wishing me luck. I had so much support from friends in the village.
The highlight was having done the jump. But, I wouldn’t do it again. I don’t feel my age, that’s for sure.
In the future, who knows what I’ll do next?
Vera Oliver
Pakuranga Park Village
