Some say that nothing makes you feel more alive than jumping out of a plane, but for one Texas man, signing up for the death-defying experience literally saved his life.
Seventy-four-year-old Ed Flemming, of Wimberley, Texas, promised his grandson that for his 18th birthday, he’d go skydiving with him. But the skydive park required jumpers over the age of 65 to have a doctor’s note ensuring they are healthy enough for the feat.
Flemming went in for a stress test and was promptly called by the office and told he must return ― and then that he needed open heart surgery for several blocked arteries.
Just three days later, he was undergoing surgery and doctors say the evaluation likely saved his life.
“I felt fine. I had no symptoms at all,” Flemming told KXAN-TV.
Luckily, his doctors now say he’s fit enough to dive. It seems the leap of faith Flemming was willing to take for his grandson, very well may just have saved his life.
“I’ll take it, whatever it was. Divine intervention, or fate, or whatever, I’m certainly glad I did it,” said Flemming.
When Flemming makes the jump with his grandson, he’ll join the ranks of countless other post 50s who have taken the plunge, like Georgina Harwood who celebrated her 100th birthday with a dive or Huff/Post50 blogger Phyllis Sues, who did the same at 90.
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