Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

81-Year-Old Walks 2.5 Miles in 30 Minutes Each Day

Aired August 03, 2002 - 08:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We just got an e-mail from someone named Carol who said hey, I wanted some summer shape-up info. All I'm getting is financial information. So I told her, sent her a message back, hey, it's coming up now.

LARRY SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: It's coming. That's right.

CALLAWAY: Don't go away.

SMITH: Patience.

CALLAWAY: Here it is.

Walking two and a half miles in 30 minutes is a brisk pace for someone, of course, at any age. Now, that is for me, let alone an 81- year-old.

SMITH: Yes. That's the pace still set by Hilda Bucher of Atlanta, Georgia five days a week. She incorporates exercise into her daily life and is now an inspiration for people of all ages.

And here's her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILDA BUCHER, WALKER: My health was getting bad. I had osteoporosis and I had breast surgery, had breast cancer. So I thought well, I'd better do something before it gets worse. And my doctor said something about I should exercise. So that's when I started walking.

One day I just went all up the street and did all the cul-de-sacs on the way back. And some days I'll go even further. I'll go down to the other end. If it's not raining too hard, I'll go, I take the umbrella and I'll walk with the umbrella. I'm a northerner. I'm used to the cold. I still walk. I bundle up and I go.

All the walkers weigh in and say good morning. And then every day my daughter calls, mom, did you walk today? If I say no, well, why didn't you? And my son calls, did you walk, mom? I say no, not today. Well, why not? They keep me honest.

We'd be walking and they'd come from behind me and they'd say boy, you're an inspiration. Keep it up. God bless you. And I said to my daughter, well, how can they tell from the back that I'm old? But about five or six people came up to me, shook my hand and said boy, what an inspiration you are. You're doing great. Keep it up.

I'm just doing it for my health, really. I feel a lot better since I've been walking. My legs are stronger and my back used to bother me and it doesn't bother me near as much as it used to. I go to the bone specialist and have the bone density tests and all, and he says they've improved since I've been walking, my bone density.

I think why I'm so active is because of good genes. My mother was 91 when she died and she was still going pretty strong. And my dad was about 85. And he wasn't doing bad, either.

I feel a lot better. It's really helped me. I try to tell my friends that, but well, I don't think I could do that. I said well, you don't know until you try. They start sitting and that's the beginning of the end. Then they won't be able to walk or do anything. You have to get out there and walk, even if it's just a little bit, you know? And then increase it a little bit as much as you can. But, you know, try to at least walk, do something.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Do something, she says. Eighty- one years old and she looks fabulous. She looks 20 or 30 years younger than she is, right?

SMITH: Yes, she really does. And what a great attitude. And that's really, that's a lot of it, too, I think is just the attitude you take.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com