She has entertained Billy Connolly, and grappled with boa constrictors and tarantulas on the Bear Grylls reality TV show Treasure Island.
But anyone thinking Irene Cattanach might be starting to take it easy now she’s reached the age of 80 is in for a dull thud.
The Aberfeldy daredevil is preparing to face her fear of heights for a charity skydive this weekend.
Supergran Irene set out to make £600 for Scotland’s charity air ambulance.
She has already raised almost twice her target ahead of Sunday’s 10-000ft feat at Errol airfield.
And Irene said she was determined to go on living life to the full for as long as she is able.
“I really fancied doing a wing walk,” she said.
“And I eventually found a place where I could do it, near Aberdeen.
“But they couldn’t take me until next year and I said ‘that’s no good – I might not be alive next year’.”
Irene no stranger to a challenge
Irene became an unlikely celebrity at the tender age of 75 when she became the oldest contestant to appear on Treasure Island.
The Channel 4 show, hosted by adventurer Bear Grylls, pitched 12 hopefuls into a battle for survival on a South American desert island.
Irene, a grandmother of six and great-grandmother of two, landed with a backpack, a machete, a knife, a fishing line, two hooks and a torch.
The Scottish granny on Bear Grylls' survival show: Irene Cattanach, 75, is the oldest contestant on the reality show set on a deserted Pacific island. https://t.co/aqyK1lwooU pic.twitter.com/nNal9ndvGm
— RushReads (@RushReads) September 13, 2019
She endured five weeks before returning home to Aberfeldy.
She later told The Courier: “It was a living hell, but I have no regrets about taking part.
“It was an incredible experience for me, and hopefully it will help inspire other people my age to get themselves out of their comfort zones and try something new.”
Husband and wife team welcomed Big Yin
Treasure Island wasn’t her first brush with fame.
Irene and her late husband Euan welcomed Billy Connolly to their home during filming for his two-part documentary, Made in Scotland.
Euan was a self-taught banjo-maker and the Big Yin went away with one of his instruments after the visit.
Irene will have her family waiting on the ground for her when she completes her tandem skydive on Sunday.
And while she will admit to being daunted by the challenge, she’s determined not to let her supporters down.
“I really don’t like heights,” she said.
“But I’ll just shut my eyes and get on with it.”
Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance is based at Perth Airport.
It has dealt with 5,358 callouts since it launched in 2013. And it relies on donations to continue its life-saving work.
To support Irene go to her fundraising page at GoFundMe.
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