I don’t do fear, says 102-year-old celebrating her birthday with record parachute jump

Second World War veteran and charity fund-raiser becomes Britain’s oldest skydiver

A 102-year-old Second World War veteran has become Britain’s oldest skydiver, after leaping out of a plane at 7,000ft over East Anglia.
Manette Baillie, from Benhall in Suffolk, completed her first parachute jump on Sunday from Beccles Airfield in celebration of her landmark birthday.
Ms Baillie, who, ahead of the jump, said, “You must always look for something new”, afterwards told BBC Radio 4 that the jump was “a bit scary”.
She said: “I must admit I shut my eyes very firmly.
“I just want other people who are getting towards 80 and 90 not to give up anything. Just keep going.”
She added: “I really don’t do fear, it’s no good.”
Ms Baillie said she had been spurred into action after hearing about a friend’s 85-year-old father who had done a skydive.
“If an 85-year-old man can do it, so can I.”
The centenarian, who had been married to a paratrooper, served in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) in the Second World War.
She was raising money for Benhall’s village hall, the Motor Neurone Disease Association and the East Anglian Air Ambulance.
She has so far raised more than £10,000 of her £30,000 target.
Ms Baillie is no stranger to high-octane activities, having celebrated her 100th birthday behind the wheel of a Ferrari driving around Silverstone at 130mph.