These B.C. seniors in their 90s jumped from a plane and would do it again

Jumping out of a plane this weekend for the second time wasn'tthe craziest thing Henry Martens has done in his 95 years.

"Yeah, it's nothing really," the senior said with a smile.

"I've done worse than that."

Like the time he accidentally crawled into a mother bear's den, or when he skied out of an avalanche, or when he fought off a knife-wielding attacker.

"They say a cat has nine lives," the former photographersaid."I've lived eight of them."

'I just want to see the beautiful world'

Martens took another leap of faith on Saturday when he skydived as part of a fundraiser for Tabor Village, a seniors care facility in Abbotsford. His wife of 69 years lived there, as did his mother before her.

He was joined by Etta Hellyer, who celebrated her 90th birthday by jumping from 3,000 metres from a separate plane.

Members of four generations frombothfamilies joined them in their jump.

Hellyer got the idea to skydive for her birthday about a year ago. Unlike Martens, she's not much of a risk-taker.

"Risk-taker in business, but not in life," the retiredpsychiatric nurse said. "Probably the biggest risk I took was having six children."

Hellyersaid she wanted to skydive to raise money for the seniors carefacility because although she still lives on her own, she figured she might end up there one day.

She said she was looking forward to the jump, duringwhich she would free-fallat nearly 200 km/h for a minute. She broke her leg last year so she was a bit nervous about the landing, but otherwise, Hellyer had no fear.

"As you get older, I don't think you get nervous about things so much," Hellyer said.

"I just want to see the beautiful world. Everybody has said how beautiful it is to jump out of a plane."

Hellyer's daughter, Cathy, said she was proud of her mom for smashing stereotypes about what seniors can and can't do.

"This is just setting new precedents that seniors are not relegated to wheelchairs," she said."To keep fit, keep mentally active as you're a senior, I think that's the only way to live life."

Martens agrees. Minutes before heading up in the plane, he said having the right attitude and staying active is important to enjoying life.

It's that attitude that already has him thinking about the next time.

"I enjoy the thrill of it," he said.

"I'm going to wait till I'm 100 and then I'll do it again."