A 102-year-old military veteran has become Britain’s oldest skydiver.
Manette Baillie, from Benhall Green in Suffolk, jumped out of plane over Beccles on Sunday to mark her birthday and raise money for three charities, which she described as “very dear to my heart”.
Baillie, who served with the Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens) in Egypt during the second world war, said before the jump: “You must always look for something new. I was once married to a paratrooper but have never done [a sky-dive] myself.”
Baillie has raised more than £10,000 of her £30,000 fundraising target for the East Anglian Air Ambulance, Motor Neurone Disease Association and her local Benhall and Sternfield Ex-servicemen’s and Village Club, which she says “is the heart and soul of our lovely community and is in need of considerable refurbishment”.
She was supported on Sunday morning by a large crowd of spectators, including members of her local community, who travelled to the airfield to watch her momentous jump. Baillie has lived in Benhall Green since 1961.
Speaking after the jump, she told Sky News: “When the door opened I thought, there is nothing more I can do or say. Just jump.”
“Well, I suppose I jumped,” she added, “I remember my legs going out and it’s a kind of blur. I shut my eyes. We seem to travel at a very fast speed.”
Baillie came up with the idea of sky-diving after hearing about a friend’s 85-year-old father who had done a parachute jump – and wanted to do another as soon as he landed. She said at the time: “If an 85-year-old man can do it, so can I.”
In successfully completing the jump, she has broken the record for Britain’s oldest parachutist, which was previously set by Verdun Hayes, from Devon, in May 2017, when he jumped at the age of 101 and 38 days.
Before the jump, she received messages of support from wellwishers including a personal letter from the Prince of Wales, as well as tips from expert parachutists.
After she landed with a grin on her face, she was presented with a bouquet of flowers by representatives from East Anglian Air Ambulance.
“We love hearing about the inspirational stories from EAAA supporters,” the charity said, “so we were completely overwhelmed when we heard about Manette’s kindness and her exciting plans to celebrate her 102nd birthday.”
She has a personal reason for supporting the charity – an air ambulance saved her son’s life after a diving accident on the Isle of Wight in 1969.
It is not her first adrenaline-fuelled challenge. In the run-up to her 100th birthday, Baillie, who still regularly drives, raced a Ferrari at Silverstone, clocking up speeds of 130mph.
In his letter to Baillie, Prince William, who previously volunteered for the charity, wrote: “Catherine and I hear you will be marking your 102nd birthday next week with a parachute jump! Knowing you celebrated your 100th birthday by racing a Ferrari around Silverstone, we are not surprised.
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“From my time with East Anglian Air Ambulance, I know how many lives are saved due to the generosity of people like you.”
Baillie told the Telegraph that the letter came as a “complete surprise”.
Speaking before her jump, Baillie told BBC Radio Suffolk that the fact that she remains fit and well is what, in part, encourages her to take on her thrill-seeking challenges.
“I’ve been so lucky to be fit and well that I’ve got to do something with it, that’s really the back of it,” she said. “I can’t just waste it, other people are crippled with arthritis and I’m not.”
She told BBC Radio 4: “I really don’t do fear, it’s no good.”
She said her secret to a long and fulfilling life was “community, friends and being among people”.
“Keep busy, be interested in everything, be kind to those around you and let them be kind to you,” she added. “And don’t forget to party.”