Experienced in some states COVID-19 vaccine shortages, getting an injection can be challenging. A 90-year-old had taken on extra burdens on her vaccination trip: miles and about a foot of snow.
Fran Goldman walked from her home in the Sand Point neighborhood of Seattle to a hospital – after a snowstorm – to get her first admission.
In an interview with The Seattle Times, Goldman said it was hard just getting an appointment. “I call every morning, every afternoon to schedule an appointment, and I’m often online in the evenings,” Goldman said.
Ruth Goldman / AP
Goldman eventually got in touch with Seattle Children’s Hospital online, which was able to arrange an appointment for her, The Seattle Times reports. “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Goldman said. “I had to get my glasses to see if I really saw them.”
Her appointment was scheduled for the morning of Sunday, February 14 – but another key was thrown in. Goldman woke up on Saturday with a few inches of snow and knew she needed a plan.
The trip to and from the hospital was supposed to be three miles in each direction, but despite having a hip replacement last year, Goldman was ready to walk it. On Saturday she did a test run, dressed in layers and with her walking poles to the Burke-Gilman Trail.
She saw there were tracks in the snow there, so she was confident she could walk the whole thing the next day. So on Sunday morning she did it again. This time she didn’t stop at the trail, she walked all the way to the hospital in her zip-up fleece, down jacket and raincoat.
Underneath all layers, Goldman was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, so it would be easy for a nurse to administer the vaccine, she told The Seattle Times.
Goldman told local Fox affiliate KCPQ that she walks about 3 miles every day anyway. However, Seattle was hit by another yard of snow on Sunday, and her family was concerned. “I thought, ‘Maybe you can take an Uber or a Lyft and just walk down the hill.’ And she was determined to walk there, ”her daughter Louise Goldman told the station.
For Goldman, getting that vaccine wasn’t just for her, but her family as well. She has two great-grandsons who she was unable to see because of the pandemic.
“I can’t wait to hold them,” she told The Seattle Times. “I just want to feel more comfortable.”
Her other daughter Ruth Goldman, who lives in Buffalo, New York, told The Seattle Times that her mother has an attitude of, “Don’t let a little bit of adversity get in your way.”
“She’s someone who looks for solutions, not problems,” said Ruth Goldman.
Despite the many problems posed by the pandemic, Fran Goldman has found many solutions such as taking Zoom classes to keep her busy. She’s still driving, so she resorted to ordering food online and picking it up in her car.
And as can be seen on Sundays, she walks when she can’t drive.
Of course, if Goldman gets her second chance in a few weeks, she hopes the journey will get easier, she told KCPQ.
After getting the shot, Goldman had to sit and wait until 3 p.m. to be checked for any reactions to the vaccine. “And I said, ‘I’d like to sit down after I walk here,’” she told CBS News’ Vladimir Duthiers.
Goldman said she wasn’t particularly fond of what she was doing. “It was the way I could do it and so I did it,” she told KCPQ.