99-Year-Old Helga Duffy Just Became the World's Oldest Wing-Walker for Charity

Imagine being strapped to the top of a small plane at 99 years old. That’s exactly what Helga Duffy did, and Guinness World Records now officially calls her the oldest wing-walker on the planet. The former nurse spent over five minutes in the air above Rendcomb Airfield in Gloucestershire, England, arthritis and a bad right knee included, and raised more than £1,600 (about $2,000) for the regional Air Ambulance charity.

The challenge came from her niece, Jackie Rose, who spotted that 97-year-old Betty Bromage had just set the record three months earlier. Jackie told her aunt she could try it, and Duffy didn’t hesitate. Guinness adjudicator Will Munford presented her certificate right on the landing, and it now sits on display at her assisted-living facility.

Her words afterward are worth keeping: don’t ever say“I can’t do it,”because you can’t see until you’ve tried. Age, in her words, is irrelevant. So we have to ask: what’s the one thing you’d want to try at 99?