Harry Heasman called the stunt "the most incredible experience of my life"
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Credit: Guinness World Records/Robert Cole
NEED TO KNOW
- Harry Heasman, 98, has set the world record for oldest male wing walker, according to Guinness World Records
- Heasman, a WWII veteran, trained for 11 months to prepare for the wing walking stunt, starting with limited physical mobility
- The British man has since fulfilled a lifelong dream, inspired by watching American flying circuses as a child
A 98-year-old man has now accomplished something that no one his age has ever achieved before.
Harry Heasman, a World War II veteran, set the world record for oldest male wing walker on Saturday, May 23, after standing on top of a moving plane as it flew over the British countryside, according to Guinness World Records.
The British man used the stunt — which he described as "the most incredible experience of my life" — to raise money for the Lennox Children’s Cancer Fund in memory of his wife and son.
“I have dreamed of doing this since I was a young child,” he told the record-keeping organization, “and to finally live that dream at 98 years old and to be a Guinness World Records title holder is beyond anything I could have ever imagined.”
Appearing on U.K. daytime television show This Morning, Heasman said he became fascinated with wing walking while watching American flying circuses as a child — and always aspired to try it one day.
Decades later, Heasman listed wing walking for charity on a bucket list his care home manager, Karolyn Sisto, encouraged him to write, according to Guinness World Records.
Credit: Guinness World Records/Robert Cole
Heasman then spent 11 months physically preparing for the event. His physiotherapist Reef Cowell told This Morning that Heasman could barely get out of a chair on his own when he started training.
“Everyone has supported him,” Cowell said on the show. “The whole community has come together to support this one man to do that.”
Heasman has raised more than £8,000 for charity, surpassing his £5,000 goal, according to Guinness World Records.
Lindsey Bidwell, of Lennox Children’s Cancer Fund, called Heasman a true “national treasure,” adding “our team and the families he is raising money for will be forever grateful.”
“Harry is proof that it is never too late to chase a dream. At 98 years old, what he has achieved is nothing short of extraordinary,” Bidwell said.
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Credit: Guinness World Records/Robert Cole
Speaking with This Morning, Heasman said his main goal was to help children, and hopes people will talk about him forever.
“The children come first,” he insisted, adding, “I’m just the one who started it.”