78-year-old daredevil says 'nothing will stop me having fun'

A fearless granddad in his late 70s is refusing to give in to old age – sharing a hilarious video of himself plunging down a water slide at a popular holiday spot.

Fun-loving Bob Carter, a former sales representative from Sleaford, Lincolnshire, is here to show that life doesn’t have to slow down after retirement.

The 78-year-old daredevil has bagged himself the title of ‘First Time Senior Slider’ after winning a competition hosted by TUI UK.

His prize? A trip to Turkey to have the experience of a lifetime at the holiday firm’s Ali Bey Club Splashworld resort – including jetting down a huge, winding slide on an inflatable ring.

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He took his granddaughter Lois, aged nine, daughter Jane, 41, son-in-law Toby, 49, and Toby's aunt Natalie, 55 with him on the trip.

Bob was selected from hundreds of thrill-seeking over 60s entries after sharing his story.

Jam Press/TUI

Talking about the experience of the water slide, he said: “I was a bit nervous beforehand as I’ve never done anything like that before.

“I wanted to show people that age doesn’t matter and that even if you are as old as me, you can still do things like this.

“I also wanted to show my granddaughter Lois that I could do it and make her proud of me.”

The video shows the granddad about to hit the slide before whizzing down and after many twists and turns, he emerges from the water with a smile from ear-to-ear, saying: “I enjoyed that!”

The keen traveller and crossword fanatic later added: “The closest thing I have done to that was a helter skelter I went on years ago, but that was nothing like the waterslide.

“When my daughter told me she had put my name forward for the First Time Senior Slider competition I thought maybe she was trying to get rid of me!

“But it was fun. I might go on it again tomorrow now.”

Lois said: “Seeing granddad come out of the tunnel into the water was really funny. He was brilliant. He did look a bit nervous beforehand, but I’m really happy he went ahead with it.

TUI UK launched the competition to celebrate the centenary of the waterslide, a treasured element of family sunshine breaks.

In conjunction with the competition, TUI UK also carried out research to discover why very few over 60's brave the waterslide.

The poll revealed one quarter (25%) of 1,000 ‘senior’ Brits have never been down a waterslide, despite almost nine in ten (88%) over 60’s feeling ‘young at heart’.

The findings were even more surprising given we’re a nation of self-confessed adrenaline junkies, with nearly one third of oldies (32%) admitting they were still thrill-seekers despite their advancing years.

“Seeing Bob’s smile as he went down our Splashworld waterslide is what it’s all about for us here at TUI,” said Richard Sofer, commercial director at TUI UK&I.

“We were thrilled to make Bob our official First Time Senior Slider and give him, and his family, a wonderful memory to talk about for years to come.

“The moral of the story is you are never ‘too old’ to give something a go – at TUI, we have a great range of holidays for all ages, including a collection of 30 Splashworld resorts that have been handpicked for the whole family to enjoy.

“Plus, with unlimited access, you can go as much as your heart desires!”

TUI has Splashworld resorts across the globe, including Egypt, Turkey and Spain.

Jam Press/TUI

• REGIONAL BREAKDOWN: WHICH PART OF THE UK HAS THE MOST ADRENALINE JUNKIES?*

Seniors based in the North West (92 per cent) and Scotland (90 per cent) are the most ‘young at heart’ (national average 88 per cent).

Liverpool (14 per cent), Nottingham (11 per cent) and Manchester (10 per cent) over 60’s are the biggest adrenaline junkies in the nation having slid down a waterslide 41-50 times in their lives (national average 5 per cent).

One in five (21%) of those based in Cardiff stopped going on waterslides after the age of 18.

*FACT BOX: FIVE FACTS ABOUT WATERSLIDES YOU NEVER KNEW

1. The Guinness World Record for the most waterslides in one waterpark is held by Atlantis Aquaventure in Dubai which is home to 50 slides.
2. The largest waterpark by size is China’s Chimelong Water Park which is 449 acres – equivalent to 339 football fields.
3. The world’s longest waterslide twists through a Malaysian jungle and measures 1,111 metres, providing four and a half minutes of sliding time.
4. Jaz Makadi Aquaviva, one of TUI’s Splashworld resorts, boasts the most water slides in its hotel range, with a whopping 50 different slides and attractions for guests to enjoy.
5. The tallest waterslide in the world is Kilimanjaro at Brazil’s Aldeia das Aguas Park Resort which measures almost 50 metres in height – the same height as Nelson’s Column and half the height of Big Ben – and can achieve speeds of almost 100km/h due to its steep inclination.