It was the 90th birthday, Thursday, of George HW Bush former US president and he decided to celebrate it by tandem parachute skydiving!
Bush Sr. jumped nearly 6,000 feet from a helicopter while harnessed to retired Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott, a former member of the Golden Knights, the Army's parachute team, near Walker's Point, Maine. He landed successfully around 11:15 a.m.
Previously Bush Sr. had announced that he would parachute jump on his 90th birthday. "It's a wonderful day in Maine -- in fact, nice enough for a parachute jump," he Tweeted.
Family, friends and fans gathered at St. Ann's Episcopal Church on Ocean Avenue to see Bush's jump. The 41st president felt "great, exhilarated" after the parachute skydive, according to his spokesman Jim McGrath.
McGrath said the nonagenarian, who lost the use of his legs due to Parkinson's disease, suffered no ill effects such as cuts or bruises from the jump. "He's feeling fine," he said. "He described it as he came in hot, but he says he's feeling fine."
Retired Sgt. Elliot said that the former president's doctors and family were not too keen with the idea of parachute jumping. "He's smiling like a kid in kindergarten," Elliott said after the jump.
Bush Sr. skydived on his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays. Thursday was his eighth jump overall. "I've got one more left in me," Bush, who is in a wheelchair, told his granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager on the 'Today' show.
Bush said that his 90 years of life have been "not too shabby ... I enjoyed it all." After his last jump in 2009, Bush said he loved the "exhilarating feeling" after the jump. "Just because you're an old guy, you don't have to sit around drooling in the corner," he said then.
The first time Bush Sr. jumped from a plane was when his aircraft was shot down in World War II over the Pacific.
The Associated Press reports, he celebrated his birthday over a private dinner with more than 200 relatives and friends, including some from his White House days like press secretary Marlin Fitzwater and political director Ron Kaufman, McGrath said.
