B.C. senior celebrates 80th birthday by in-line skating 350 kilometres in costume

Parksville, B.C. -

While contemplating what to do for her upcoming birthday, Sonya Bardati knew what she didn’t want to be.

“I’m not going to be a rocking chair granny!” Sonya recalls saying.

So she stared considering her life thus far.

“I want to dwell on the good things.”

Instead of dwelling on the tears that were shed while growing up in an orphanage, she recalled the smiles that were inspired there, while performing on roller skates.

“We did a show (that included moves like) circles, airplanes, and the finale was the split,” Soya remembers. “It was very nice.”

So Sonya decided to don a pair of in-line skates for her 80th birthday.

“It feels fabulous,” Sonya says, while blading down the street. “You feel like you’re in a cloud.”

But this was just the beginning.

“When I decide to do something, I do it,” Sonya says.

Like how she decided to start working at 15, join the Royal Canadian Air Force at 18, and become the first woman to graduate from her university as a chartered industrial accountant, Sonya decided to embark on a skating road trip for her birthday.

She planned to blade from Port Hardy to Parksville on Vancouver Island over seven days — more than 350 kilometres.

“My motto is: I can do anything I want as long as I don’t hurt anyone,” Sonya says.

But what about hurting herself? What about her asthma? Or what about the osteoporosis that caused Sonya to break 10 bones over the past six years?

“I was scared,” she admits. “I’m made of glass.”

But Sonya faced her fear, and started training five days a week, because she said this journey was bigger than her.

Sonya wanted to give back to her adopted cat, Holly.

After her husband of more than 50 years died, Sonya says that Holly was a crucial comfort.

“She kept me from falling apart,” Sonya says.

So Sonya turned her journey into a fundraiser for the SPCA.

But she wasn’t done celebrating. Sonya also skated in a different costume every day, dressing up as a showgirl in fishnet stockings and a hippy with peace signs and a flower-blossom headband, among other things.

“I’m a nutcase!” Sonya laughs. “I love doing things that make people happy!"

And after completing her birthday goal, Sonya says she’s learned the best way to celebrate every day is bettering yourself, so you can better to others.