Jami Goldman

  b. 1968 | American sprinter

At The Bottom

— 1988

Those few minutes in the snow would prove devastating, as frostbite began to set in.

As she struggled through a snowdrift that reached up to her knees, 19-year-old Jami Goldman didn’t realize these were the last steps she’d ever take. While driving home from a ski trip to spend the holidays with her family, Goldman and her friend Lisa Barzano had skidded off a deserted road in northern Arizona.  Stranded inside a Chevy Blazer, the pair had no food or water, no source of heat, and no way to contact the outside world.  After three days inside the vehicle, they tried to make an escape; unable to move more than a few feet from the car, Goldman and Barzano retreated.  But those few minutes in the snow would prove devastating, as frostbite began to set in.  When the young women were finally discovered after a maddening eleven days of being trapped, they were dehydrated and near death.  Goldman’s legs were in terrible shape; after three weeks of futile therapy, they were amputated below the knee.