55 Year Old Woman Pulls 80 Ton Plane

DULLES, Va. (WUSA) -- At the yearly Dulles Airport plane pull, a 55 year old female powerlifter who is also a cancer survivor went up against a Fedex Airbus plane to raise money for the Special Olympics of Virginia.

Mary Jacobson says doctors told her in 1995 that she had incurable cancer and should "make arrangements for my daughter, buy a coffin and prepare to die". She says she underwent experimental surgery and treatments thinking she would die anyway. She didn't die but slipped into a coma for two years. She awoke from her vegetative state in 1997, "I was given a second chance to live." she says

Mary took advantage of that second chance with a vengeance. She began weightlifting at the age of 42 and 13 years later, she has won over 120 powerlifting and strong woman events nationally and internationally. She also raises tens of thousands of dollar for charities by pulling very heavy stuff, "Planes, trains, trucks , anything that isn't tied down" she quips.

Today was her biggest challenge, an 80 ton airplane. Prior to the event, she downed a few Hostess Snowball cupcakes because she says"the chocolate cake, marshmallows and cremeare better than powerbars for a quick energy boost".

Alas, Mary was unable to pull the plane by herself but did budge it a few feet after a dozen people helped out. She says it's the competition thats important and showing people that "You can try to accomplish anything if you set your heart to it and who knows, sometimes you'll surprise yourself."

The 25 plus teams that participated in the competition raised over fifty thousand dollars for the Special Olympics of Virginia. The Chesapeake Sheriffs Department became tri-champions. They won back to back to back plane pulls with a record setting 5.8 second effort. Cisco Inc was the biggest money raiser for the event.

Meanwhile, Mary Jacobson says she knows what went wrong this time, "I needed a few more Snowballs."