Hospice patient doesn’t let terminal illness keep her down

WALLACE, Idaho — A North Idaho woman went to new heights to learn an important lesson that other people can take something from.

Lorraine Williams, 80, zipped through the trees last Friday near Wallace, Idaho with a huge grin on her face. She seemed so happy as she sped down the line, dangling hundreds of feet in the air. Williams looked like she’d been doing this her whole life.

“Oh, that was so exciting. I want to go again,” Williams said.

But she hasn’t.

It took nearly eight decades and a terminal illness for her to strap in and speed off on a zipline. Williams said she spent about half her life in the Coeur d’Alene area, just a short drive from Silverstreak Zipline Tours in Wallace.

But, she never saw the view from above or felt the wind whip through her hair, until now.

“I had the most fun zipping down those! Oh, that was so much fun. I can’t describe it,” Williams said.

Those indescribable moments, perhaps, made even more special when you know something else about Williams. She is dying from colon cancer.

Auburn Crest Hospice cares for her and helped arrange the zipline adventure. Nothing, not even cancer, can keep Williams down.

She plans to enjoy the ride right until the end.

“If I can go do it at almost 80, anybody can do it. It’s so much fun. Don’t cheat yourself by not doing it. You should go,” Williams said.

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