26 February 2024 , 12:57
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A grandad and granddaughter are set to both celebrate their 21st birthdays - despite having 63 years between them.
Leap year baby Norman Jones will reach the milestone of 21 at the grand old age of 84 after being born on February 29, 1940. His granddaughter Katy Mason is also due to turn 21 this year on April 1 - marking two generations turning the same age. The grandfather-of-four, who now lives in Hook-a-Gate near Shrewsbury, was born in Asterley, Shropshire.
Norman is one of five million leap year babies - sometimes called 'leapers' - around the world, with one-in-1,461 babies born on February 29. Modern-day celebrity leapers include rapper and actor Ja Rule and Spain's president, Pedro Sanchez. Composer Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born on Leap Day in 1792.
There are no set rules for birthday celebrations for leap day babies - some choose to stay faithful to February while others celebrate on March 1. And Norman says he just likes to take each year however it comes. He said: "I'll celebrate on either day. Depends on what's going on."
"It doesn't make too much of a difference when you get older, but years ago you didn't bother too much with birthdays anyway. You didn't go out for a meal or anything like that like you do now."
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In Scotland, it's said that being born on a leap day will lead to a life of bad luck. But Norman scoffed at the superstition. He added: "I've never had any bad luck. I suppose I've had very good luck, I've had a good life." Norman and his wife Mary have been married for 62 years this year, and have two children and four grandchildren.