At 22, Colleen Cooley was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis and told to take it easy the rest of her life.
“I couldn’t have stress. You have to stay away from stress,” Cooley said. “So, I took up a sport where people try and kick you in the head. Pushing through that woke up my inner warrior because I was going to be in a fight for my life. So yeah, Taekwondo let me tap into that inner warrior. Then my life changed.
“I got divorced, I got remarried, I had to start working, and I slipped away from that focus. And then I got breast cancer – I had to have a double mastectomy and I couldn’t train. My hips were locked up. I was bone-on-bone on both hips. I couldn’t really walk more than 10 feet. I had the right hip done in April of 2022. I had the left one done in June of 2022. And by January 2023, I said,
‘Okay, I have mobility now. I’m not locked into position and I’m going to start to train.’ And that’s what I did.”
Now 70 years old, Colleen is a Taekwondo master, a fifth-degree black belt on the AAU USA national team.
“I never really wanted to be an old fart,” said Cooley. “Back when I was getting ready to turn 50, I said, ‘50 is going to be fabulous. 60 is going to be sensual. 70 is going to be sensational.’ I like that as I get older, I continue to get stronger. Whether it’s an autoimmune disease, cancer, or broken bones, you can still come back — comeback is always possible.”
And when it comes to getting around, Cooley says she’s never alone.
“Uber is my everything,” Cooley said. “Think about it – I travel by myself. I never get in a cab anymore. I always use Uber. They’re my safety net.
“It’s so easy because you really don’t have to be a techie on it. Basically, all you have to do is enter in the address of where you’re going, and as soon as you enter the first couple of letters, it fills it in. You can say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s where I’m going.’
“And Uber knows where you are, so you don’t have to explain to them exactly where you are. Technology-wise, it’s like, ‘This is where I want to go. They’re going to be here in two minutes.’
“And you can send a message to the Uber driver that says, ‘I’m over by the red door on the right side.’ So, you can always feel comfortable that they’re going to come to where you are and meet you there and you’re going to get in a car that’s safe.”
Cooley especially loves the add-a-stop and group ride features.
“You can say, ‘Okay, pick me up here, but then we’re going to stop at Jane’s house and we’re going to stop at Joe’s house and we’re going to pick him up and we’re all going to go hang out together.’
“With Uber, I can be anywhere and I can go anywhere.”
Download the Uber app and turn on a senior account to help you ride confidently. https://p.uber.com/growing-bolder
