Air Force veteran who lost both his legs, skydives for 90th birthday

An Air Force veteran who lost both of his legs in his eighties recently celebrated his 90th birthday by jumping out a plane with his daughter. According to international media reports, Stan Rohrer jumped 13,000 feet from an aeroplane above southern California's Lake Elsinore.

He was a First Lieutenant in Communications in the US Air Force and was stationed in South Korea in the 1950s after which he became a physics teacher. 

While talking to an international media outlet, Rohrer said his daughter had asked him if he would like to jump with her and he agreed. Linda Rohrer, his daughter, further said her dad has been blessed with more energy than most. The 90-year-old used to regularly hike mountains but he, unfortunately, lost both of his legs because of blood clots behind his knees. He is also an avid biker, a wheelchair tennis player and a kayaker. 

READ: Mark Inglis, First Double-amputee To Climb Mt Everest, Inspires Many

Linda further said that he is an inspiration and he can still beat a 20-year-old in tennis. Rohrer can also drive himself after a kayaker modified his truck. He uses pulleys to get his wheelchair in and out and unloads his kayaks himself. Rohrer told the media outlet that the skydiving experience tops his list of the craziest things he has done in his life and he further added that he would do it again.

READ: Meer James Rose, First Double Above-knee Amputee To Climb Kilimanjaro

First double above-knee amputee to climb Kilimanjaro

Stan Rohrer is not the only adventurer as last year a British Army Veteran James Rose, who lost his legs in an accident in Afghanistan, became the first double above-knee amputee to make it to the summit of Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. He also competed in Wheelchair Basketball and Sitting Volleyball events. His sheer determination to get back up in life led him to win silver and bronze medals at the respective events.

Rose was deployed in the Helmand Province and was on a tour with the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment in 2009 when he accidentally stepped on a pressure plate of an improvised explosive device (IED) and lost both his legs to a blast that followed. The tragedy also broke his pelvis and tail bone. 

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