Article Lead Image

Mashable/YouTube

91-year-old man finishes his bucket list by crashing into a garage door

He probably never thought he'd be able to do this.

 

Michelle Jaworski

Internet Culture

Posted on Jun 4, 2015   Updated on May 28, 2021, 4:22 pm CDT

Walter Thomas is fulfilling a lifelong dream that pretty much anyone else would call a nightmare.

The 91-year-old man has always loved automobiles, having watched race cars from a distance and owned four different gas stations in Woodstock, Illinois, over 50 years. He’s been happily married for more than 70 years, and he has children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren around him.

But for a long time, one item remained on his bucket list: he wanted to crash a car through his garage door. On purpose.

“[My grandfather] told me a long time ago that he always wanted to back a car through the garage door,” Becky Goers, Thomas’s granddaughter, told the Woodstock Independent. “He always wondered if the garage door would pop off, or if the frame would come down with it.”

With some help from his family—including a grandson who is a deputy for the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office—Thomas’ dream came true. He got into a car that was on its way to the junkyard and parked inside a garage that was about to be demolished anyway. He was even given some protective gear.

Is this video bizarre—even absurd? Definitely. But if you’re planning to replace your garage anyway, this is one easy way to get rid of the old one.

And Thomas’ face says it all: it was totally worth it.

Screengrab via Mashable/YouTube

Share this article
*First Published: Jun 4, 2015, 1:04 pm CDT