Seniors take the dive to knock skydiving off the bucket list
Sep 30, 2024, 5:53 PM | Updated: Oct 7, 2024, 9:28 am
TOOELE — Two Clearfield assisted living center residents want to show that it’s never too late to try skydiving.
On Monday, Connie Burton, 82, and Thel Noyes, 75, suited up with the Chancellor Gardens adventure club to prepare for their big jump.
“I’m excited about it. I hope everything goes well,” Burton said.
“I’m fine, actually,” Noyes added. “Surprisingly, I thought I’d be a lot more nervous.”
Brittany Blanch helps run the assisted living center’s adventure club and is preparing to jump with Burton and Noyes.
“I think it gives meaning, you know, to their lives some purpose. Excitement, adventure,” Blanch said. “They’re very inspiring.”
Burton and Blanch are all suited up and getting ready to enter the plane. (Mike Anderson, KSL TV)
Blanch said the center’s adventure club has been around for a while. The club has taken residents on various activities like ziplining, but skydiving was a first for the club.
While the two residents aren’t too nervous about their jump, loved ones on the ground are.
“I’m way more nervous than my mom is. But she did call me last night and said, ‘If by chance I don’t make it. I’ve had a great life!’ said Wendy Eastman, Burton’s daughter.
“I’m excited for him. I mean, it’s been kind of a hard year for him. I think this is going to be great,” added Josh Noyes, Thel Noyes’s son.
After some brief preparation, the group loaded into the plane. After hitting the right altitude, they were off, each with the help of tandem instructors.
“When you first jump out of that airplane. I felt like that was the dumbest thing I ever did,” Thel Noyes said.
However, both residents said the view and the experience were unlike anything else they had experienced in their lives.
Thel Noyes jumping out of the plane with his instructor. (Skydive Utah)
“That was fun!” Burton said. “Looking down and seeing everything. It was just a marvelous experience. I’d do it again.”
“Yeah. It’s fun today, but I don’t want to do it again,” Thel Noyes added.
If nothing else, they’re showing the value of seizing the day and taking the opportunity to do something that you may never get a shot at again.
“I would just say, don’t hold back. Just go for it! I loved it!” Burton said.
