Wish of a Lifetime Fulfills 87-Year-Old’s Dream of Hang Gliding

Jim Willis, an 87-year-old cancer survivor and great-grandfather to 20, finally fulfilled his dream of hang gliding with the help of Wish of a Lifetime and its two partners, incontinence products company SCA and senior living provider Brookdale Senior Living.

Wish of a Lifetime is a nonprofit organization that works to shift society’s view of aging. The three organizations have worked together for several years to grant the wishes of seniors, and Willis is among the first participants of 2017.

Willis has been energetic and active his whole life. More than a decade ago, he had the opportunity to try hang gliding for the first time, but his flight was cancelled due to bad weather. However, his desire to fly remained steadfast, and this year the Bradenton Brookdale Senior Living community where he lives collaborated with SCA and Wish of a Lifetime to finally make his dream come true. On Friday, January 27, Willis completed a tandem flight on a hang glider while his friends from Brookdale watched. He said he wants to show older people that “you are never too old to try something new!”

“Our goal is to make the world a better place to age.” said Tom Wagenlander, executive director of Wish of a Lifetime. “Our Wish recipients show us that growing older doesn’t mean we have to stop dreaming and living a life of purpose.”

Wish of a Lifetime, Brookdale Senior Living and SCA partnered to grant the wishes of three seniors in 2015 and four in 2016, including an 88-year-old Navy veteran who wanted to board a submarine; an 86-year-old man who wanted to see how classic cars were made; and a 78-year-old woman who wanted to meet an elephant. Stories of those and other Wish of a Lifetime recipients can be found on the organization’s site.