Seattle woman, 90, who recently had hip replaced trudges SIX MILES with two walking sticks in a foot of snow to get her COVID-19 vaccine
A rare winter storm that dumped a foot of snow on Seattle couldn't keep a 90-year-old woman who recently had her hip replaced from her first appointment for the coronavirus vaccine.
So Fran Goldman walked six miles round trip to get her shot, The Seattle Times reports.
'I have been calling to get an appointment anywhere, every morning, every afternoon and often I've been online at night,' Goldman said.
Every day, she called the Washington State Department of Health in an effort to find an available vaccination slot.
'Nada. Nothing,' Goldman said. 'Every day.'
She called a local grocery store that had its own pharmacy hoping to see if there was an open slot, but to no avail.
A rare winter storm that dumped a foot of snow on Seattle couldn't keep Fran Goldman (seen in the undated photo above) from her first appointment for the coronavirus vaccine on Sunday
Goldman walked six miles - three miles each way - through a foot of snow to get her coronavirus vaccine on Sunday. The image above shows a COVID-19 testing site in Seattle on Saturday
Her daughter, Ruth, who lives in Buffalo, New York, kept making phone calls to see if there was anything available. A friend of Fran's in Arizona also made calls looking for a vaccination appointment, but no luck.
On Friday, Goldman went online and visited the website for Seattle Children's Hospital. To her surprise, there was an open time slot.
'I couldn’t believe my eyes,' Goldman said. 'I had to get my glasses to see if I was really seeing it.'
Goldman reserved her slot - 9:10am on Sunday morning. Little did she know, however, that the Seattle area was due for a snowstorm that rolled in on Friday, turning the city's normally rainy streets into a winter scene of snowdrifts.
Goldman, who recently had her hip replaced, trudged through the snow using her walking sticks and managed to get to the clinic five minutes later than her scheduled time
On Saturday morning, it became clear that she wouldn't be able to drive to her vaccine appointment as there were inches of snow on the ground.
So she set did her due diligence and started planning ahead. Fran stepped out with walking sticks and trudged through the snow for a 'test hike'. Her phone indicated that it would be about a three-mile hike each way.
Goldman managed to get about two-thirds of the way toward the hospital before turning back, feeling good that she would be able to make the trek the next day for her shot.
The next day, she dressed in fleece pants and a short-sleeved shirt so that the nurse could get to her arm easily.
Over that, she layered a fleece zip-up, then a down coat, then a rain jacket.
She then put on snow boots, took out her walking sticks and ventured onto the snowy streets.
'It was not easy going, it was challenging,' she told the newspaper.
The tracks that she traversed the previous day had frozen over and more snow was layered on top of them.
Fran's daughter, Ruth (left), who is based in Buffalo, New York, was on the phone for hours trying to find a vaccination appointment for her mother in Seattle
But Goldman made it to her appointment, just 5 minutes late. Had she been early, she was would have been told to wait in her car, which wasn't an option since she hadn't driven to the clinic.
Her daughter Ruth Goldman, who lives in Buffalo, New York, wasn't surprised by her mother's actions.
'We're outside people,' she said. 'We love being outside. I was out yesterday at Lake Ontario with a wind chill of 6 degrees.'
Fran Goldman is now one step closer to being able to finally hold her great-grandsons, Silas and Logan.
Silas was born six months ago, while Logan 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.'
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