At 97, James Gordon decided there was still something missing from his list.
The Guelph, Ontario, man went skydiving for the first time last month, jumping from a plane at an altitude of 4,200 metres. Gordon, a resident of the Village of Riverside Glen retirement community, said he wanted to do it for the experience.
“I wanted to do it because it’s an unusual experience,” he said. “I just wanted the experience and to say I’ve done something else. I want to learn as much as I can about life.”
The retirement community partners with Skydive Swoop in Dundas so residents can try skydiving. Gordon is the oldest resident to take on the challenge.
He said the jump is part of his quest to live an “exciting and thrilling” life, although he had second thoughts the night before.
“I was really, really caught up with feeling very unsure if I wanted to continue. But my wife was there, so I behaved with a little bit of courage and just waited for the next morning.”
By the time he got on the plane, that feeling had passed.
“The next morning when I had to go get on the plane, my golly, I didn’t feel a thing. I was just interested.”
On Aug. 21, Gordon got into a plane with three others and was strapped to an experienced skydiver. He said the jump caught him off guard straight away.
“I never knew I’d be tumbling, turning and twisting. I spun over, round and round, all over the place.”
Once he stabilized, he took in the view.
“I really loved it, looking around, seeing things at a far distance. There were mountains, the hills, the lakes — everything you could wish to see.”
Kimberly McCarthy, manifest manager at Skydive Swoop, said older people taking part in skydiving is less unusual than some might think.
“There’s no age limit on skydiving,” McCarthy said. “There are quite a few people out there that are still skydiving regularly and they’re in their 80s.”
McCarthy said she believes Gordon is the oldest skydiver Swoop has ever had. She said she did not see the jump itself, but was there when he landed.
“We were really excited for him. We all came running up to him, and gave him handshakes and high-fives. It’s getting me choked up just thinking about it. I’m kind of getting old there myself, and so it just kind of gave me the feeling that I still had a whole half of my life coming my way.”
Adventure has long been part of Gordon’s life. He worked as a game warden in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, for five years.
His daughter, Gillian Bakar, said she grew up hearing stories from that time.
“His dog was eaten by an alligator at some point. He ran from elephants and escaped from lions. He had serious adventure back when the wild was truly wild.”
Bakar said Gordon also made contact with a number of tribes and built relationships with members. When he decided to go skydiving, she backed him straight away.
“My first thought was at 97, if you want to have an adventure like that, absolutely run with it,” she said. “I just feel absolutely happy for him. He’s managed to do something that he is so incredibly proud of.”
Gordon now hopes to publish a book about his time in the jungle, something Bakar said has been more than 50 years in the making.
“His lifelong wish has been to get that book published,” Bakar said.
Gordon said he plans to skydive again when he turns 100.
“I feel that if you push yourself and you do things, you keep your mind working and you keep your body working, the more chance you have that you will live longer. And here I am at 97.”
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