Dilys Price
‘Daredevil Dilys’ has broken world records and raised thousands for charity as a skydiver. Still wanting more at 85, Charlie Cottrell asks her for directions to the fountain of youth.
Dilys Price casts a remarkable figure not only for her daring exploits, but also for her ceaseless compassion. Holding the Guinness World Record for oldest female skydiver, Dilys has been pioneering in her efforts to provide help to those who need it most, founding Cardiff-based charity the Touch Trust, as well as raising thousands of pounds from her acclaimed skydiving escapades.
Your involvement with skydiving, which you are probably most famous for, is spectacular. It’s quite a niche activity for anyone to get into. How did it come about for you?
I started skydiving at 54. I’m a dance lecturer and teacher, and although not a professional on the stage, I just love to dance. The point with skydiving being that I dance in the air! I got involved at 54 because my students had a club for children with additional needs, and we were running out of money. I said to them, “What you need to do is a parachute jump,” but if they were going to do it… I had to do it too.
Did you get nervous before your jumps?
Oh yes. I used to think, “If I eat too much I’ll be sick, if I eat too little I might faint”. But every time I came down, I wanted to go up again. I thought I’d give up when I was trained, but then I trained, and then I thought, “I’ll give up when I’ve done a hundred” – then of course I went on and I did a thousand. I’ve only given up now because I also accept that there is a finite life to one’s body.
Was the Guinness World Record ever a target for you, or did it just happen?
What really happened is that I retired, and I’d had a lovely life with lovely students, and I continued to love moving. But at the end of the day, we were raising money with the skydiving, with many older people who we were working with doing skydives too for The Touch Trust. So one of the reasons I didn’t give up, although I loved it, was because I thought “I can’t give up, we need the money!” Keeping the money going has been good for me as well though, so it’s really a win-win.
You have often spoken about how passionately you feel about equality. What changes have you seen to women’s rights over time?
Well, women were second-class citizens. When I got divorced, I was in a situation where I didn’t know if I would I be able to get a mortgage for a house. And a little bit before my time, if a teacher got married then she had to give up work. It has been a man’s world, and there have been losses [because of that]. The best world is one where men and women both bring their talents and each talent is respected.
With these views and the things you’ve achieved later in life, how different are you to other people your age?
I’d say I’m an eccentric. I haven’t got the big car, the big house. But we’ve all got this flame in us, and we’ve got to keep that joy of life with us right until the end. I have a saying: “The bigger the pile of shit, the bigger the diamond in it.” And you have to go on until you find that diamond. And as we get older, we forget about the diamond.
Do you have any more gems of advice for us?
Well the other thing I tell myself, when I’m struggling to get out of bed or I’m feeling deflated, I say “If I fall off my bike, get back on and do wheelies”. And I think if there’s one piece of advice for youngsters, it would be to be robust. When you fall off your bike, get bloody back on and do wheelies!
Info: www.skydiverdilys.co.uk / www.touchtrust.co.uk
Dilys is also taking part in Processions, Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff [starting point], Sun 10 June. Admission: free. Info: www.processions.co.uk