Taking the leap at 80

80 year-old Kensington resident, Ms Vera Lyon, celebrated her birthday by skydiving from 12 500 feet above sea level in Parys on Saturday, August 23.

Ms Lyon’s birthday was on August 16, however due to poor weather conditions, her skydive was postponed to August 23.

Her daughter, Mrs Maria Holding, said the entire family is proud of her and hope they have the guts to jump at 80.

“Ever since I can remember, she always wanted to skydive. I needed to make her 80th birthday special, so my brother and I decided this was the way to go,” said Mrs Holding.

She said her mother was more concerned about how she was going to keep her hair in place and that she had to have red lipstick on for the jump.

“My mother had never ever worn pants until that day. So it was her first jump and also her first time wearing pants. She is too much of a lady,” said Mrs Holder.

She said her mother was not scared at all during the jump.

“She only had a bit of a fright when they jumped out of the aircraft and when the parachute opened. She was so excited that she forgot she had to strap in to Cornel, her Dive Master. We had a good laugh,” said Mrs Holder. She said she’ll be taking her mother for her second jump in summer. @JoburgJourno