Good NewsWoman celebrates 102nd birthday by BASE jumping off 486-foot bridge
When Dorothy Custer turned 101, she zip-lined over Idaho's Snake River Canyon.
To celebrate her 102nd birthday, the Twin Falls native topped that adventure: Custer BASE-jumped off 486-foot-high Perrine Bridge in a tandem jump with professional BASE jumper Sean Chuman.
"I'm really excited for her really because I've never met a lady her age that wants to jump off. So if she wants to jump off, I'm excited to do it," Chuman told KMVT of his oldest client before the jump. "It's going to be really cool."
Perrine Bridge is the only manmade structure in the United States where BASE jumping is allowed year-round without a permit.
"BASE" stands for Buildings, Antennas, Spans, and Earth.
Custer originally planned to have a "calm" birthday this year. Her family, however, had other plans for the gutsy woman — and bought her the tandem jump.
When asked why she decided to go through with the daring jump, Custer didn't have an answer:
"Why am I? I've kind of asked myself that, too. I guess probably because I don't know any better."
"It was too short! I don't know why it went down so quickly. But that was alright. There's nothing left to do but just live now," she said after the jump.
When asked about her longevity, Custer said, "Well, I've often wondered that too, but I've never thought of age."
She added, "I just went on living and having a good time and doing what was necessary. I don't think of age right now."
