(WSVN) - We all have dreams, and some of us fight hard to make them come true. No one knows that better than a 97-year-old Miami Beach man. 7’s Lynn Martinez shows us how he worked for a “Dream Dance.”
Alex Matz, Fyzical Therapy Center (to Mike): “I want you to keep your head up. I want you to take big steps. Good.”
Ninety-seven-year-old Mike Danziger is taking big steps toward his dream.
Mike Danziger, patient: “I couldn’t walk.”
An illness last year left him very weak.
Sarah Danziger, Mike’s wife: “He was in this wheelchair. It was difficult, really difficult.”
His strength suffered, but his spirit was strong.
When his granddaughter got engaged, Mike knew it was time to get help, so he could dance at her wedding in Chicago.
He started working with physical therapist Alex Matz.
Alex Matz (to Mike): “Look up to the mirror as you step up. Good, beautiful.”
Alex Matz: “We all knew exactly what our goal was. Every single day, the reason he came here. He never missed a session.”
From July to December, three days a week, Mike worked very hard on strength and balance.
Mike Danziger: “He promised me I’ll be ready for the wedding and I will dance, and I said, ‘We’ll see!'”
Mike is a fighter. He’s also a survivor. Growing up in the Warsaw ghetto in Poland, he lost his entire family at Treblinka Concentration Camp during the Holocaust.
Mike Danziger: “I’m from a family of eight, six brothers and two sisters. None of them left.”
He escaped from Warsaw when he was 17 … only to be captured.
Mike Danziger: “I wound up in Russia.”
When the war was over, he came to the U.S. and got married to Sarah. Sixty-seven years later, they count their blessings — with five daughters, 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
And when the big day came, the months of therapy paid off.
Mike Danziger: “I was dancing with my wife. Whoever wanted, they all wanted to dance with me.”
Mike and Sarah danced the night away.
Mike Danziger: “I love to dance!”
Sarah Danziger: “It was fantastic.”
And, with his newfound strength, Mike stood strong and also sang blessings to the newlyweds.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
Sarah Danziger: “It’s happiness, happiness to see this.”
That was in December, but Mike hasn’t stopped his therapy.
Alex Matz: “He’s got another wedding just a few weeks away.”
Another granddaughter is getting married, and Mike’s going to make sure he gets another dream dance.
Alex Matz: “He has a fan club. It’s so easy to fall in love with him.”
Mike says he’ll continue doing therapy, not just for his next family wedding, but because it makes him feel good.
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