Nothing can stop this woman from flying
At skydiving center, she leaves wheelchair behind
She’s 73 and uses a wheelchair to get around. And this weekend she flew without the benefit of an aircraft.
Arvada great-grandmother Trudy Goldman’s aeronautical feat took place Sunday at the iFly Denver indoor skydiving center in Lone Tree. With support from two staff members, Goldman donned a body flight suit and rode the updraft generated by the center’s vertical wind tunnel, experiencing near weightlessness for a combined 5K minutes over two flights.
“It was a great experience,” Goldman said. “You really do feel the air is holding you up and you don’t have to worry about falling down.”
The seeds of Goldman’s flight were planted in the fall, when Amy Fogarty, the activity director at Brookdale Arvada, the senior living community where Goldman lives, showed Goldman a video of her 9-year-old son in the wind tunnel at iFly. Goldman, affected by post-polio syndrome, said the video took her back to her childhood when she remembered feeling — or dreaming — that she could fly.
“That looks like a lot of fun,” Goldman recalled thinking. “It would be nice to be free of the wheelchair, free of the Earth and just enjoy myself.”
Fogarty contacted the Denver-based nonprofit Wish of a Lifetime to share Goldman’s asdisease, pirations. The charity, founded by former Olympic moguls skier and University of Colorado football player Jeremy Bloom, is dedicated to changing the way society perceives and values seniors by helping some fulfill wishes or dreams and sharing their stories. Since its founding in 2008, Wish of a Lifetime has granted wishes for an estimated 1,750 people over age 65.
Steven Glaser, the charity’s program manager, said Goldman’s life story made her a perfect fit.
Born in Cuba, Goldman contracted polio when she was 17 months old. With help from surgeries and treatment delivered in America, she beat the but it left her with permanent issues with her legs. Goldman graduated from high school in Wisconsin and went on to attend the University of Miami, eventually becoming a social worker for Cuban refugees.
After living in New York for many years, Goldman and her husband moved to the Denver area to be close to their daughter, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren. As she entered her 50s, the effects of postpolio syndrome began to take a more severe toll, and Goldman began using an electric wheelchair to get around. Last fall, with the disease now affecting her spine and causing numbness
in her lower body, she moved to Brookdale to have more support. She keeps busy doing water aerobics, playing bingo and crafting.
“She’s incredibly inspiring. She’s never let her disability hold her back,” Glaser said. “Not only will this (wish) have tremendous impact on her life but also the lives of her fellow residents and her family. It’s a story of overcoming obstacles, of perseverance and continuing to live a life with purpose and passion.”
Goldman’s daughter, one of her grandsons and a shuttle-load of friends from Brookdale joined her at iFly on Sunday. The sky diving center chain regularly holds an “All Abilities Night” for people with physical and cognitive disabilities.
To learn more about Wish of a Lifetime or submit a wish on behalf of someone you know older than age 65, visit wishofalifetime.org.