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A 104-year-old Chicago woman died Monday morning, days after jumping out of a plane and breaking the record for oldest skydiver.
Centenarian daredevil Dorothy Hofner lived an “exciting and fulfilling life,” a spokesperson for Skydive Chicago and the American Parachute Association told the Chicago Sun-Times on the news of her death. said in a statement.
The thrill-seeker’s cause of death was not immediately released.
Hoffner safely landed a 13,500-foot tandem jump at Skydive Chicago Airport in the Chicago suburb of Ottawa, Illinois, on October 1, becoming the oldest person to jump out of a plane with a parachute.
“Age is just a number,” Hofner told the crowd after setting a seven-minute record.
She broke the previous record set in 2022 by 103-year-old Swedish woman Linnea Ingegard. Skydive Chicago is working with Guinness to make it official.
Hofner is no novice, having first skydived many years ago when he was 100 years old and needed a gentle push to get out of a plane.
“Skydiving is an activity that many of us want to safely have on our bucket list,” a Skydive Chicago spokesperson told the Sun-Times. “But Dorothy reminds us that it’s never too late to experience the thrill of a lifetime.”
Witnesses said she was “calm and confident” when the Skyvan plane’s door opened more than 4.5 miles above the rural Midwest landscape.
The photo shows Hoffner and the certified instructor smiling as they land in the grass.
“Everything was fun and wonderful and nothing could have been better,” said Hofner, who would have turned 105 in December.
After his final jump, Hofner told reporters he was considering asking his 109-year-old neighbor to accompany him on the next descent, the newspaper reported.
She said she wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride next.
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