102-year-old skydiving record-breaker shares longevity secrets: ‘Don’t forget to party’

This brave 102-year-old is taking birthdays to new heights.

Manette Baillie, from Suffolk, England, celebrated another year of a life well-lived by jumping out of a plane – and raising over $13,000 (£10,000) for her favorite charities across the UK.

Baillie, a former World War II cadet with the Women’s Royal Naval Service, is no stranger to taking risks: on her 100th birthday, she raced a Ferrari on the official track of the British Grand Prix , reaching 130 miles per hour.

“You always have to look for something new,” she told reporters on Sunday as she gathered for her high-flying achievement. “I was once married to a paratrooper but I never did [a sky-dive] myself.”

She decided skydiving would be her next big move when a friend pointed out that her 85-year-old father had recently completed his first jump. “If an 85-year-old man can do it, so can I,” Baillie said.

Baillie told BBC Radio Suffolk that she is grateful to be in such good shape for her age. “I’ve been lucky enough to be fit and well enough to do something with it, that’s really the end of it,” she said. “I can’t waste it, other people are crippled with arthritis and I’m not.”

A large crowd of friends, family and spectators gathered at an airfield in Benhall Green, which Baillie has called home for more than three decades, to watch her grandmother take to the skies.

“When the door opened I thought there is nothing more I can do or say. Just jump,” she told Sky News after the stunt. “Well, I guess I jumped,” she continued, “I remember my legs giving way and it’s kind of a blur. I closed my eyes. We seem to be traveling at a very fast speed.”

In addition to her selfless achievement, Baillie also took Britain’s record for their oldest ever paratrooper – a title previously held by Devon resident Verdun Hayes at 101 years and 38 days in May 2017, according to the Guardian.

Baillie’s jump was met with congratulations from Prince William, who wrote: “Catherine and I hear you will be celebrating your 102nd birthday next week with a skydive! Knowing that you celebrated your 100th birthday by racing a Ferrari around Silverstone, we’re not surprised.”

The money Baillie raises will go to support aid organizations within her local community, particularly the East Anglia Air Ambulance, whose first responders saved her son’s life after a car accident in 1969.

The Duke of Cambridge added in his letter, “From my time with the East Anglian Air Ambulance, I know how many lives have been saved because of the generosity of people like you.”

Baillie said she couldn’t have lived this long without the support of her loved ones – but that’s not all it takes, she told BBC Radio.

“Stay busy, take an interest in everything, be kind to those around you and let them be kind to you,” she advised. “And don’t forget to celebrate.”