Peel man celebrates 80th birthday by jumping out of a plane

The wind howling, the drop of stepping out into nothing but sky and the eventual pull of gravity are all reasonable deterrents and fair factors as to why one should not throw themselves from an aircraft.

But for 80-year-old Peel man Joe McCormick, the exhilaration of the fall outweighs any negative.

“A lot of people say it’s a rush, but rush isn’t the right word to describe skydiving,” he said.

“It is exhilarating. Once you’re up there you haven’t got a care in the world, and the free fall is just exhilarating.”

Mr McCormick celebrated his 80^th birthday by taking his two daughters Lesley and Joanne, along with son-in-law Luke, to the Pinjarra Skydiving drop zone for a day of thrills.

While Mr McCormick had previous experience parachuting, Lesley, who is vision impaired, said her first time was one of the most memorable experiences of her life.

“I’m just ecstatic that I did it. The fall before the parachute is released was something I will never forget,” she said.

“When we hit the ground I just looked back at and yelled ‘happy birthday dad’.

“It felt excellent – I loved every single minute of it and will definitely be doing it again.”

Mr McCormick first made the jump more than 40 years ago in Darwin, when some of his former military mates took him up in their plane.

“I remember watching the first bloke go out and he sort of sprawled out in his wing suit,” he said.

“As I was watching him, another mate has booted me out of the plane and I remember just feeling like it was the best thing in the world.”

After flagging his desire to parachute once more, Joe’s daughters decided to book him in at Pinjarra.

“The sun’s out and it’s just a lovely day out with the family,” he said.

“I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend a birthday.”