90 YEAR OLD SKY DIVER WHO JUMPED WITH HEART

New Brunswick – Olive Cochrane celebrated her 90^th birthday in July by plunging 10 000 feet towards the ground and raising over $2500 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick. With members of her family from all over Atlantic Canada, Ontario, and a newphew visiting from England, they watched in amazement as Olive and some of her family jumped two at a time through the skies above McEwen Airfield north of Moncton in support of a great cause and their courageous Olive.

Breaking a record as the oldest jumper at Skydive Moncton is one thing, but bringing attention and raising money for such an important cause here in this province says even more about this extraordinary lady. “My father passed away from heart disease, it is a cause that I feel very close to and am thrilled to have brought light to it in this fun and adventurous way!” says Olive.

Four generations of her family took part in this birthday jump on July 24^th. Her two great grandsons, Jared Stone and Aidan Woodford were the first to jump, followed by granddaughter Barb Richard and Olive, and Olive's son Scott and granddaughter Teresa Woodford brought up the rear. All family members leapt out of the plane, free fell for 40 seconds at a speed of 192 kilometres per hour, and then parachuted down another five minutes.

“A moment I will never forget, was the walk to the plane when my mother looked at me and said “Now you be careful, you're not as young as you use to be." says Scott Cochran.

The idea for Olive's celebratory leap started about a year ago. The family has always been a bit fascinated by paratroopers and wondered what it would be like to float through the air, so they asked Olive if that would be a way she would like to leap into her 90^th year, and surprisingly Olive said yes. They quickly began making arrangements for the jump and decided to do some charity work while they were at it.

"After talking a while we decided to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation," Scott Cochrane explained. "We spread the word to some friends and the pledges just started rolling in." says Scott.

On the day of the jump they had already gathered $1600 and they were not finished. In total they ended up with $2500 that will go towards heart research and programs for the leading cause of death in this province, heart disease and stroke. However, the most exciting part is the incredible family memory that has been made, and that is truly priceless.

Photo Caption: Olive Cochrane and her son Scott Cochrane proudly present Kurtis Sisk, Director of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick with a donation of $2515.00 that will go towards research and programs for the leading cause of death in  this province, heart disease and stroke.