Montse, 83, completes 930th sole parachute jump – and looks forward to her next 930
Monday, November 21, 2016 @ 9:45 PM
AN 83-YEAR-OLD lady from Barcelona has just completed her 930th sole parachute jump – and says she has no plans to give up her favourite sport for a long while yet.
Montse Mechó was 49 when she first leapt out of a plane, and at the time, tandem jumps had not yet been 'invented'.
This means that, unlike all other beginners who are bodily strapped to an instructor with at least one spare parachute, and who does all the work for the new skydiver, Montse had to go it alone – making the decision to jump from the open door of the aircraft and pulling her own parachute cord at the right moment.
Luckily, she was already used to challenging sports that require a fearless constitution; she had competed in the Spanish national swimming and trampolining finals, and went on to win both after her first few skydives.
Aged 80, she featured in a video advertisement for insurance company Aviva, which was subtitled in English.
Separated from her husband decades ago, Montse lives alone and struggles to survive on a pension of just €245 a month – and although just one parachute jump can cost nearly this much, she has become such an ambassador for her local drop zone that they let her do it for free.
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