A 70-year-old woman, who applied for the job of a motorcycle stunt rider 48 years ago, has received her application letter. Tizi Hodson, a former stuntwoman, was in for a pleasant shock when the long-lost letter arrived nearly five decades after she sent it. The letter, written in January 1976, was trapped behind a drawer in a post office all these years but has now found its way back to her.
It came with a handwritten note: “Late delivery by Staines Post Office. Found behind a draw. Only about 50 years late.” This unexpected arrival rekindled memories of a dream she nurtured in her youth. “I always wondered why I never heard back about the job. Now I know why,” Ms Hodson told the BBC.
Ms Hodson recalled she typed the application in a London flat, eagerly awaiting a response that never came. “Every day I looked for my post, but there was nothing there, and I was so disappointed because I really, really wanted to be a stunt rider on a motorcycle,” she shared. “It means so much to me to get it back all this time later,” she said.
Despite the initial setback, Ms Hodson pursued a remarkable career. She moved to Africa and worked as a snake handler and horse whisperer. She later learnt to fly and eventually became an aerobatic pilot and instructor. She recalled she was careful not to let people know she “was female” because she thought she would “have no chance of even getting an interview.”
“I even stupidly told them I didn't mind how many bones I might break as I was used to it,” she recalled.
Looking back, Tizi Hodson said that she had a wonderful time in life, even if she “broke a few bones.” “If I could speak to my younger self, I'd say go and do everything I've done,” the 70-year-old said.
