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Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,674
Registered: ‎01-06-2015

90 Year Old Seattle Woman Walks Six Miles For Vaccine

Not only six miles, six miles in nearly a foot of snow. Three miles each way.

 

She is an inspiration. Yes we can say that she shouldn't have had to do that. But that didn't stop her, she was on a mission.

 

 

Seattle Times Feb 15

 

 

Walking 6 miles through nearly a foot of snow to get to her first COVID-19 vaccine appointment was nothing, compared to what 90-year-old Fran Goldman went through to get it.

 

“I have been calling to get an appointment anywhere, every morning, every afternoon and often I’ve been online at night,” Goldman said Sunday evening, safely back home in Seattle’s Sand Point neighborhood.

 

Goldman would get on the phone every morning with the Washington state Department of Health and ask them to help her find something.

“Nada. Nothing,” Goldman said. “Every day.”

 

She tried the local grocery stores with in-store pharmacies, hoping for a spot. Her daughter Ruth, who lives in Buffalo, New York, would work the phones and scour the internet to find something. So did a friend in Arizona.

 

Last Friday, Goldman got online with Seattle Children’s hospital, which was administering vaccines. She went through all the questions expecting a dead end. Then a window opened, asking what time she wanted to come in.

 

“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Goldman said. “I had to get my glasses to see if I was real.

 

 

She made an appointment for Sunday morning at 9:10, not knowing that there was a snowstorm headed this way.

 

On Saturday, Goldman awoke to several inches of snow on the ground, and knew she would have to plan ahead. So she dressed in layers, got out her walking sticks, and headed out with her phone, which told her it would be 3 miles each way.

 

Goldman, who got a new hip last year, stepped carefully down the steep driveway outside her condo building, and got onto the Burke-Gilman Trail, which already had tracks in it.

 

She got about two-thirds of the way to the hospital and turned around, confident she would be able to make it the next day.

 

And on Sunday morning at 8, she dressed in fleece pants and a short-sleeved shirt so that the nurse could get to her arm easily. Over that, a fleece zip-up, then a down coat, then a rain jacket. She yanked on her snow boots, grabbed her two walking sticks, and headed out.

 

“It was not easy going, it was challenging,” she said, adding that the tracks had frozen over and been covered with more snow.

 

But Goldman made it to her appointment just 5 minutes late, which was fine. Had she been early, she would have had to wait in her car — which wasn’t there.

 

Back in Buffalo, Ruth Goldman wasn’t terribly worried about her mother.

 

“We’re outside people,” she said. “We love being outside. I was out yesterday at Lake Ontario with a wind chill of 6 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

"Never let the facts get in the way of a good story"
Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,674
Registered: ‎01-06-2015

Re: 90 Year Old Seattle Woman Walks Six Miles For Vaccine

Got cut off, here is the rest of the article. 

 

“My mother isn’t going to let a little snow stop her from getting the vaccine,” she continued. “She was willing to walk however many miles there and back to get it. She is a really remarkable person who has the attitude of ‘You don’t let a little adversity get in your way.’

“She’s someone who looks for solutions, not problems.”

 

Indeed, Fran Goldman is one step closer to solving one major problem: not being able to hold her great-grandson, Silas, born six months ago; and her other great- grandson, Logan, who is 2. She also has five grandchildren and four children.

 

“I can’t wait to be able to hold them,” she said. “I just want to feel more comfortable.”

 
Fran Goldman, with Silas, her new great-grandson, walked 6 miles to get her COVID vaccine on Sunday. “It was not easy going, it was challenging,” the 90-year-old said. (courtesy of Ruth Goldman)Fran Goldman, with Silas, her new great-grandson, walked 6 miles to get her COVID vaccine on Sunday. “It was not easy going, it was challenging,” the 90-year-old said. (courtesy of Ruth Goldman) 
 

She hasn’t felt that way since the pandemic began. She does her best, taking Zoom classes (right now it’s a Lifelong Learning class about post-World War II China), ordering food online and picking it up in her car. (Yes, she still drives).

“I hate it,” she said. “I will be happy to get back out into a grocery store and pick out my own things".

"Never let the facts get in the way of a good story"
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,321
Registered: ‎05-21-2010

Re: 90 Year Old Seattle Woman Walks Six Miles For Vaccine

She is a remarkable woman. I have a feeling if she has to walk to get her second shot she'll repeat the trek that she made for the first one. And taking a Zoom class on post World War 11 China now that is really impressive! 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,153
Registered: ‎12-27-2010

Re: 90 Year Old Seattle Woman Walks Six Miles For Vaccine

Ridiculous feat for anyone to do in frigid weather let alone a 90 yr old female.why no one gave her a ride, I don't know as I didn't read the whole long story.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,620
Registered: ‎09-22-2010

Re: 90 Year Old Seattle Woman Walks Six Miles For Vaccine

Amazing.  I am younger than her but I don't think I could walk 6 miles even without the snow!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 41,969
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: 90 Year Old Seattle Woman Walks Six Miles For Vaccine

it really is sad though that she has no one to rely on but herself......even someone close to her could have gotten her an uber.

********************************************
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,120
Registered: ‎03-29-2019

Re: 90 Year Old Seattle Woman Walks Six Miles For Vaccine


@LizzieInSRQ wrote:

Ridiculous feat for anyone to do in frigid weather let alone a 90 yr old female.why no one gave her a ride, I don't know as I didn't read the whole long story.


 

 

@LizzieInSRQ 

 

 

Don't underestimate the determination of a 90 year old on a mission!

 

 

I am glad that she got her shot.

 

 

 

 

I live in California.

The Sky looks different when you have someone you love up there.
Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,513
Registered: ‎08-19-2018

Re: 90 Year Old Seattle Woman Walks Six Miles For Vaccine

She's amazing!

 

I live in the Portland, OR, metro area, and saw her on TV last night. 

She appears to be tall, trim, and, even at 90, looks athletic.

Of course, I don't know, but, I'm guessing she probably has been, her entire life.  

If she's from Buffalo, a rare Seattle snowstorm, even a nasty one, would be child's play! 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,739
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: 90 Year Old Seattle Woman Walks Six Miles For Vaccine

Okay, can someone fill me in here as I must've missed it in the original story.  It said she does still drive, so forgive the stupid question but why did she not drive?  Was she snowed in?  Just wondering.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,776
Registered: ‎07-09-2011

Re: 90 Year Old Seattle Woman Walks Six Miles For Vaccine

 

You GO, Gurl!!!

"Animals are not my whole world, but they have made my world whole" ~ Roger Caras