The day JJ Rawlings faked a heart attack to teach his 13-year-old flying

The Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has recounted how her late father, former President Jerry John Rawlings, once faked a heart attack to teach her how to fly.

During an interview on GHOne’s Starr Chat on June 27, 2024, Dr Agyeman-Rawlings said her father began teaching her how to drive and fly at the young age of 13.

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According to her, her first attempt at flying a plane was a circuit, which she undertook with her father.

“I flew my first plane at age 13. It was a circuit. He (her father) was braver than I was. It is a funny scenario because it was one of those situations where, as a parent, he taught me how to fly, had watched me, he knew what I was capable of; so, he got out of the plane and said go,” she said.

She further recalled the day she flew solo for the first time, describing how her father pretended to suffer a heart attack while they were airborne to test her readiness.

“What he did before was, as we were on final, he said he had a heart attack, so I had to land the plane. I shut his eyes, and I caught what this man was doing. And I thought, okay, I have to land this plane, which I did. And I think for him, that was his way of testing whether I would be able to do it,” she narrated.

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The Korle Klottey legislator added that after she successfully landed the plane, her father stepped out and encouraged her to take off on her own.

“And then he got out and said, ‘You are ready, go’. And I looked at him, I was scared actually because I thought 'I don’t know' and he said ‘You are ready, go’. So, I did, I went, and of course I was praying the whole way,” she added.

MAG/AE