Thelife- A 99-year-old woman from Leicestershire took center stage at a Zippos Circus show on Friday.
- Annie Duplock, a former circus worker, said she always dreamt of being in a knife-throwing act.
Just three months shy of her 100th birthday, Annie Duplock of Leicestershire, England, checked an item off her bucket list by taking center stage at Zippos Circus and becoming a human target for a knife thrower.
The 99-year-old former circus worker bravely stood at the base of the throwing board during the show's finale on Friday, grinning and leaning slightly on her cane before the knives began whooshing by, creating a rough outline of her body.
"I've always wanted to have knives thrown at me!" Duplock told the BBC.
—Zippos Circus (@ZipposCircus) May 12, 2023
Duplock told the outlet she persuaded her daughter to ask her former boss, Zippos founder Martin Burton, to help her fulfill her lifelong dream as a treat for her upcoming 100th birthday. He was all too happy to oblige.
"Annie worked for me 30 years ago, putting up posters," Burton told the BBC. "She was 70 years old then and she is 100 years old this August."
After the nerve-wracking display, Duplock confidently proclaimed she "really enjoyed" the experience, telling BBC, "I'm ready for the next one."
Knife throwing, also called the impalement arts, was popularized as a performance spectacle by traveling circuses and wild west shows in the United States, according to CBS.
While dangerous, the stunt has created superstars in the circus world — such as David R. Adamovich, also known as the Great Throwdini, who holds multiple Guinness World Records for knife-throwing accuracy and speed, including the most knives thrown around a human target in one minute (102) and the fastest time to throw ten knives around a human target (4.29 seconds).
Representatives from Zippos Circus did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.