Pauline Kana, now 100, became the world's oldest crowd surfer at the age of 99 years and 274 days, setting a Guinness World Record at a concert in Bellville, Texas. The feat was part of a documentary about her life, which also included a bucket list she compiled with her grandson Ross.
In 2013, when Kana was 87, she was playing basketball with Ross in Ohio while he was home from college. He made a video of her blocking his shot, posted it online, and people really enjoyed it. They started doing comedy skits together and now have more than 4 million followers on Instagram.
A Record-Setting Crowd Surf
After doing lots of short videos, they decided to make a documentary about her life. As part of it, they compiled her bucket list. One of the things she wanted to do was break a world record. Ross and Kana spent months thinking of something that would be outrageous, but also fun and inclusive. They settled on her becoming the world's oldest crowd surfer.
Ross knows the country singer Brantley Gilbert, and he was willing to help them at a show he was playing in Bellville, Texas. Originally, during the crowd surfing, Kana was going to be strapped to a board Ross had made to protect her back, but it was flexing too much, so he strapped her into a stretcher instead.
Kana was 99 years and 274 days old the day it happened. It was the first time she had ever crowd surfed. To break the record, she had to stay up for at least 10 seconds. There were 20,000 people in the crowd, and they planned for them to move her in a straight line from the back to the front. But 20 minutes before they were due to start, they saw that everyone in the main crowd was sitting in chairs with gaps between them. Ross started panicking. They used the mosh pit instead, and she travelled in a U-shape from stage right to stage left.
A New Lease of Life
Kana wore a white T-shirt with a red outline of her face on it so she would stand out from the crowd. Brantley introduced her and said: "I'll beat you up if you drop Granny."
She was launched out and felt as if she was flying. She knew she had to trust everyone. Ross panicked because there was a walkway between both sides of the stage with a 10ft gap and a high fence that she had to be passed over. He jumped the fence as she went across, and security people carried her over. She was held up for more than three minutes, nearly an entire song. She was so content. She put her arms out and felt she could touch the sky.
When she got back on the stage, the crowd chanted, "Granny, Granny". She stood there, soaking it all in. It gave her chills. She was recognised by Guinness World Records for becoming the oldest person to crowd surf at a concert.
Ross comes up with all the ideas. He says he's Steven Spielberg and she's Betty White. Kana only realised how much people liked their videos when she went to the grocery store one day and people were asking to take pictures with her.
A Life of Work and Purpose
This is a whole new life for her. She grew up on a farm in Ohio, the youngest of seven children. They didn't have TV or a phone. They had chores to do from a young age. During the second world war, she made ammunition in a weapons factory, and she worked in factories until her retirement at 83. She has worked hard, and it gave her purpose. The videos are a new kind of work. Meeting people is her favourite part. She has met Pope Leo and celebrities like Tom Holland and Bad Bunny on red carpets. She loves meeting people who know them from social media. They come up to her and say: "I was lonely and sad in hospital and I watched your videos to lift me up." People say they've reconnected with family after watching Ross and her together. When she's on her deathbed, she wants to know that they made everybody's day a little better.
Kana took care of Ross when he was a baby, but this has brought them closer. Before, she only saw him a handful of times a year, but now they live together in Ohio.
She turned 100 this summer, and she had two parties with hundreds of people. She can't believe she's 100. She's the only one out of her siblings who has lived this long. Not all days are peachy. The hardest part of getting older is the aches and pains. Making their videos gives her a purpose, and that boosts her on days she doesn't feel so good.
Kana hopes their videos make people realise that it's never too late to live your best life. If you want to do something new, do it now. Enjoy every moment, because it goes by in the blink of an eye.
