Gran's 80th birthday skydive
A DAREDEVIL granny has skydived into her 80th birthday celebrations.
Mission Beach’s Daphne O’Neill threw caution to the wind on Sunday, leaping out of a perfectly good plane for an adrenalin-pumping plummet she has described as her "most wonderful experience ever".
Mrs O’Neill chose the longest possible descent for her first tandem skydive.
She leapt from 4200m, spending one minute in freefall.
"You’re never too old to try new things – and this was amazing," the granny, now known as Daredevil Daphne, said.
"There’s no time to think … one minute you’re sitting on your tail and the next, boom, you’re outside.
"I loved the whole thing but it went so fast."
Nerves were never an issue for the 80-year-old.
But friends have admitted to an anxious wait from their send-off and the first sight of a "spec in the sky" to Mrs O’Neill’s beach-landing metres from where they were standing.
The octogenarian was greeted with champagne and cake.
"I could see 'Happy Birthday Daphne' written in the sand as I came down, which was lovely," she said.
A volunteer at the Mission Beach Visitors’ Information centre, she said skydiving sparked her interest after selling packages to young tourists.
The longtime Mission Beach resident had already marked her retirement years with "hair-raising" bus trips through South America, a rope-assisted clamber up a mountain behind Machu Picchu in Peru and a scenic helicopter flight over the Canadian Rockies.
And her first skydive will not be her last.
The tip for the grandmother of three for younger generations is simple.
"If you’ve got your health that’s great," she said.
"I don’t feel like I’m 80. You live every day for what it’s worth, it doesn’t matter how old you are to do that."
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Dive straight in: Skydiving granny Daphne O’Neill, 80, gets a bird's-eye view of her Mission Beach hometown with some help from Skydive Australia instructor Damo Johnson. Picture: SKYDIVE AUSTRALIA.
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