A 100-year-old Brazilian grandmother will experience gravity in a whole new way this Christmas when she takes the plunge out of an airplane to become the world's oldest parachuter, local news site G1 reported Saturday. Aida Mendes asked her grandson as a Christmas gift to help her arrange the jump which would get her into the Guinness Book of world records.
After getting the green light from doctors and her loved ones, Mendes was planning to leap from a plane above Macapa, a city in the northern state of Amapa, this weekend, according to the website.
"This is not my birthday present, it's my Christmas gift," Mendes, who turned 100 in November, was quoted as saying. "My grandson dared me, and I said 'sure.'" Still flirtatious in her triple digits, Mendes added: "Because I did a lot of sports as a young woman, I can really say that I am a 100-year-old with the body of a 50-year-old." Now she is preparing for the drop from about 3,000-4,000 meters (9,900 to 13,000 feet), and a shot at the record books.