I’m a 10-year-old extreme adrenaline junkie — I’ll risk everything
She’s ticking items off her bucket list before most people have made theirs.
10-year-old Mary Jones, from the UK, developed a taste for extreme sports from an early age, and has already gone paragliding, bungee jumping and skydiving.
The young adrenaline junkie is determined to try every extreme sport, and even has her sights set on becoming a professional wakeboarder for Great Britain.
The almost-tween’s passion for adrenaline fueled sports began after a trip to Ölüdeniz, Turkey, when she was four, after her parents David and Ladda went paragliding.
“I remember feeling scared to go up paragliding,” Mary told SWNS. “But when I did it, it was the most fun thing in the world.”
Her parents, who have shared their own adventure-filled moments, said their daughter was hooked from the moment she saw them go paragliding.
“She kept looking at them and asking to do it over and over,” David, 37, recalled.
“I thought they’d say ‘no way’ because her age,” he continued. “But it turned out she was the minimum age to do it, so she went up to the top of the mountain.”
Although the pair admitted it was “nerve-wracking” to watch their daughter go paragliding at such a young age, she loved it so much she went back and did it three times — and it’s been nonstop adrenaline-fueled activities ever since.
Mary’s parents have supported her in her thrilling endeavors, even helping find a company that would allow kids to try it from nine years old in Thailand.
In terms of activities closer to home, Mary loves indoor climbing, bouldering, quad biking and trampolining.
“I enjoy a lot of these activities — I used to go kart and have tried skydiving,” David explained.
“But I don’t fancy caving or anything in such a tight space, I draw the line at doing it again,” he admitted. “Mary’s mum, Ladda, draws the line at bungee jumping— she’s not good with big heights.”
However, one of her greatest loves is the water sport wakeboarding, which she discovered in 2021, when she was around eight. Mary now trains weekly, winning the under 10s urban wakeboard cable World championship and the junior girls European championship in July 2023.
“I think of all the things she’s done wakeboarding is the most dangerous,” David admitted.
“She’s out on the board alone and doing tricks in the air — she could land badly and hurt herself,” he explained. “Luckily she’s had no serious injuries but it’s always a concern.”
Mary now is hoping to start kitesurfing, another water sport, but has to wait until she reaches the minimum weight so she she can control the kite.
The 10-year-old is currently training for this year’s Wakeboard World Championship.
“It’s lots of hard work and I’m doing lots of training,” she said, but that hasn’t stopped her from deciding what to tackle next.
“Next I really want to try kitesurfing and some off-roading motorbiking,” she quipped.
