Great Grandmother Mary Allen Hardison: 101-Year-Old Woman Breaks Guinness World Record... Oldest Female to Paraglide Tandem

Photo:  Guiness World Records – See Video at GWR link as well

In celebration of the official start of spring and life rejuvenated, Guinness World Records is recognizing the endless spirit and youthfulness of 101-year-old great-great grandmother, Mary Allen Hardison from Ogden, Utah, who is now recognized as the 'Oldest Female to Paraglide Tandem.'  (She was perhaps inspired by former President George H.W. Bush, but beat him in age.  She broke the 100-year-old female record set two years ago.)

Pushing record breaking to new heights, Mary's incredible feat was achieved as part of her 101st birthday celebration this past September 1^st.  On, as she describes, "a whim to not be outdone by her 75-year-old son Allen," who had recently taken up paragliding as a new outdoor activity, Mary took to the air fearlessly for her first flight.

Cheered on by her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and even great-great grandchildren, Hardison was strapped in by Cloud 9 Paragliding Company representatives and took flight amongst the strong winds. Paragliding instructor Kevin Hintze describes Hardison as "hardcore" as they spun together hundreds of feet in the air.

A self-described rookie to the paragliding sport, Mary's primary hobby is knitting garments for the less fortunate: caps for children's' hospitals, crocheted bandages for leopards in India, and knit caps for premature babies. Her closest experience to anything extreme was riding all the rides at Disneyland at age 90.

Hardison comments, "I feel very humble in setting a new Guinness World Record. My desire is for the elderly to keep on going, do things as long as you are physically able. Be positive. Friends don't like a grumpy person."

Hardison also urges other senior citizens to stay moving and to continue to challenge themselves, even if it means them breaking her current record:

"When a person is busy, the hurts seem to ease up. If you are able and even older than I, then I'm happy for people to attempt to break my record. I promise the experience will be well worth it!"

Also See: Go Granny Go…  These fun activities by seniors come at a time where we are simultaneously seeing both more people living to 100+ and on the flipside watching the fight against the provisions in ObamaCare to ration healthcare for seniors.

There are more Centurions on record alive today than anytime in history and with proper healthcare and continued research discoveries and inventions we should continue to see an increase in numbers as well as the quality of health in those who reach the rip old ages of 100 an above.

Ann Nixon Cooper, center, prepares to cut her cake as she celebrates her 107th birthday

However, we are living at a time that youth instead of the wisdom that comes with age are valued.  We are also living at a time where we often stick our aging parents and grandparents into institutional facilities or ‘old people’s group homes’ instead of taking them into our homes to be part of the core family unit as people have done throughout history, where they can impart their wisdom, perspective and experience to the next generation… or two… or three.

Although the House of Representatives just passed a bill to do away with IPAB, it won’t pass the Senate if it even makes to the floor to be voted on, and many question whether any changes made now (before Election 2012) to ObamaCare won’t just be reversed if ObamaCare is either not declared unconstitutional in full or the individual mandate is not struck down by the SCOTUS and then President Obama is re-elected. The End of Life Provision was removed from ObamaCare in August 2009, but the ObamaCare Mandate Committee is alive and well.  Rationed Healthcare, no matter how you spin it equals death panels for those who do not get the care and procedures they need.  Seniors and special needs children and adults will be the first victims.  Many see the days of Soylent Green in their future.

Related:

March 23rd Second Anniversary of ObamaCare… March 26th a Future Day in American Infamy?

Meet the ObamaCare Mandate Committee

Obamacare rationing panels an ‘immediate danger to seniors’: former AMA president

Obamacare’s Second Anniversary: No Gift for Seniors

IPAB Spells Gloom And Doom For Medicare – On (03.22.12) the House of Representatives voted to repeal key 'Obamacare' provision” IPAB (the CLASS ACT has been nullified)

I was told by a friend whose husband works for one of our major U.S. hospitals that the HR department posts upcoming news on a weekly basis on their bulletin boards throughout the hospital. Late last week a posting went up stating:

PER THE U.S. FED GOV’T, AS OF APRIL 24, 2013 THERE WILL BE NO CHEMO/RADIATION/MEDICATIONS/FOR ALL PERSONS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER AT AGE 76 OR OLDER. SURGICAL PROCEDURES WILL BE DONE ONLY IF THE SURGEONS CAN WITH HIGH CERTAINTY REMOVE IT ALL.

Grandparents (grandmas and grandpas) and the wisdom and experience of seniors were valued in our culture until Progressivism took hold.  Those relationships and the transfer of generational wisdom are still valued in the Asian cultures whose children are number #1 overall in educational retention and the arts.  Connection?  And many of the values and traditions whose loss we question and yearn for could certainly be salvaged and resurrected if our children and grandchildren spent time with older generations. 

In studies, the relationship between grandchildren and their grandparents have been shown to be some of the most valuable of their lives. (As they say grandparents and grandkids are so close because they have a common enemy!) Grandparents have time for grandkids, are generally more relaxed than parents and are often fun & funny.  Perhaps it is time to take stock of our lives and weigh societal pressures and directions against common sense?  It has to still exist somewhere deep down?!?  How about setting up a neighborhood homeschooling network run primarily by grandparents since so many mothers work?

One really must question whether we as a society have moved so far down the road that we are truly considering standing still for killing off our elderly relatives and some of our greatest assets?!?  And whether we are so brainwashed that we don’t realize that tomorrow it will be us.

Ask Marion~

Seniors Left Behind?

by Ken Connor

One of the most controversial issues of the current health care reform debate is the concept of health care rationing—allocating medical care according to predetermined criteria that dictate how much and what kind of care a given patient will receive under a government-run system. Setting aside the comparative merits of various reform proposals on the table in Congress, Americans—particularly the elderly—should be wary of any plan that would limit access to health care based on the arbitrary and discriminatory criteria of age.

As many have pointed out in the course of the ongoing national discussion on health care, America's population is aging rapidly, placing a growing strain on entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security. Health care costs continue to rise, and America's younger population cannot long foot the bill for elderly retirees and their significant health care requirements. This conundrum (caused not by taxpayers but by decades of gross government mismanagement of taxpayer dollars) seems to have bred an underlying antipathy towards seniors, the undisputed "resource hogs" of public health care. This feeling of resentment is exacerbated by an increasingly utilitarian view of human life that sees no value in prolonging one's twilight years, especially on the public dime.

This situation makes proposals for "comparative effectiveness" research seem like a pretty good idea. Who, after all, wants to waste their taxpayer dollars on treatment for old folks who are going to die soon anyway? Wouldn’t it be better to allocate the bulk of our health care resources towards more productive members of society while reducing the spectrum of costly options available to seniors and the terminally ill among us?

But do Americans really want government bureaucrats dictating access to care based on their perception of one’s worth to society? This question goes to the heart of the problem with rationing: a stranger far from the scene decides who gets care and who doesn't. The person making these decisions knows neither the patient nor the healthcare provider, yet he or she is charged with the responsibility of allocating scarce resources among a demanding population rather than providing the best possible care.

Instead of allowing the market to dictate cost and availability, the buck will stop with the government. Instead of allowing doctors to work dynamically with their patients to tailor a health care approach best suited to the individual in question, the government will use its regulatory power to force physicians into applying narrow "quality of life" criteria when evaluating treatment options for society's elderly citizens. This utilitarian approach to life and death is already affecting seniors in North America, in places like Canada (no surprise there),Texas, and Wisconsin.

A health care system that bases its fiscal solvency on rationing undermines the fundamental American values of self-determination and choice. This nation has always been known as a land of opportunity and innovation. For hundreds of years, people have traveled from all over the globe at risk to life and limb just for a chance to build their own dreams here in America. This includes the opportunity to live a full and free life, even into one's golden years of retirement and senior citizenship. But what criteria will America's elderly citizens have to meet in order to retain access to the best health care if our leaders institute a Brave New World of "comparative effectiveness" in health care? Age? Productivity? Societal "usefulness?" Level of sentience?

The elderly often don't score well along these lines, and once American society becomes comfortable with the idea that certain members may be deemed less worthy than others in the eyes of the government, we have rendered the heart and soul of our Constitution meaningless. Once we decide that the elderly are expendable, not worth their share of society's resources and attention, we are setting a dangerous precedent that opens the door for government bureaucrats to assign other vulnerable members of the human community to the same second-class status.

The idea that senior citizens are less deserving of the best medical care our system has to offer smacks of gross ignorance and ingratitude. Among the ranks of America's elderly are countless American heroes—veterans of numerous wars, entrepreneurs, farmers, businessmen, teachers, scientists... men and women who have worked hard and paid taxes their whole lives. Our society wouldn't be what it is today without their contributions, and they deserve just and equitable treatment as they live out their final years.

As the August recess commences and our leaders head home for some straight talk with their constituents at Rotary Clubs, community centers, and town halls, hopefully they will recognize that America's seniors are vital members of our nation's communities and integral to our democratic way of life. If Uncle Sam is determined to assume the mantle of responsibility for health care in America, the elderly should not automatically be relegated to the back of the bus.

Medicare Fraud Arrests… Finally - APHouston TX USA

Federal agents escort suspects out of the FBI offices Wednesday, July 29, 2009 in Houston. Federal authorities arrested more than 30 suspects, including doctors, and were seeking others in a major Medicare fraud bust Wednesday in New York, Louisiana, Boston and Houston. (No doubt ACORN related) (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

Related Resources:

• Prescription for Truth – Daniel Hannan From England: HealthCare Worse for Elderly
• GovernmentCare’s Assault on Seniors
• Obamacare for Illegal Aliens – While Granny Gets Duty to Die Lecture
• Meet Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel: Deny Coverage to Elderly and Disabled for the Greater Good
  • Obama’s Rogues Gallery: Ezekial Emanuel – Goodnight Grandma
  • Complete Lives System by Ezekial Emanuel
  • Ezekiel Emanuel, architect of ObamaCare..please read
  • Meet Your Science Czar
  • Ghoulish Science Plus Obamacare Equals Health Hazard
  • Absolutism Redux – Review of the Second Bill of Rights: FDR’s Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More Than Ever
  • Useless Eaters
• Kennedy: Let’s Ration Healthcare
• ObamaCare For Seniors: Sorry, You’re Just Not Worth It
• Who Will Tell Michael J. Fox He Needs to Die?
• America Senses Something Isn't Right
• Senator Grassley (and Others): Democrats Want to Nationalize Healthcare
• The Ultimate Resting Place of Socialized Medicine
• *Letter to Your Congress Person on Health Care (Obamacare) HR3200
• *A Look at What is Really in the Health Care Bill (HR 3200): Chilling!
• Dick Morris Says Obamacare Will Replace Medicare – What to do to Save Health Care
• The Community Organizer Doesn’t Like People Organizing
• Reparations By Way of Health Care Reform
• Obama in 2007 Said He Wanted to Eliminate Private Health Insurance
• Kristol: Kill It, And Start Over
• ACORN CRACKED: Exposes ACORN"S Push for Socialized Medicine
• Catastrophe
• American Progressivism
• Liberal Fascism
• The Second Bill of Rights
• Culture of Corruption
• Liberty and Tyranny

Posted: True Health Is True Wealth