Share
News

69-Year-Old Cancer Patient's Dying Wish Was To Take First Flight, Nurse Makes It Possible

Share

Right before I got married, I ended up with food poisoning that was so bad that it landed me in the hospital. While I was there, I accidentally overheard a heartbreaking exchange between a doctor and a patient.

The patient happened to be my roommate, a man recovering from prostate cancer surgery. In the wee hours of the morning, his physician came into the room to deliver bad news: Some of the cancer still remained.

I listened from the other side of the privacy curtain as the doctor described the man’s treatment options. It was absolutely clear, though, that this patient would die from the disease.

Hearing that news so calming delivered chilled me to my core. Indeed, I imagine that Joe Booth of New Albany, Indiana, must’ve felt the same way when he received similar counsel back in February.

According to USA Today, 69-year-old Booth had fought prostate cancer for two years when his doctor told him to stop taking his medication. Why? It wasn’t doing much good.

Trending:
KJP Panics, Hangs Up in Middle of Interview When Reporter Shows He Isn't a Democratic Party Propagandist

Booth understood what that meant. He’d just about reached his fill of days, and he would soon move from this life to the next.

A blog post on the Norton Healthcare website chronicled how Booth and Dr. Arash Rezazadeh, an oncologist, began speaking about dreams and life goals. Natural enough conversation when a man is facing death.

Sure enough, Booth had something he wanted to do before the end, something he’d never managed during life. He wanted to fly in a plane.

Do you have a list of things you want to complete in your lifetime?

At one point, he’d built model World War II airplanes. Yet he’d never taken to the skies himself during his nearly seven decades.

The poignancy of his request and the patient way in which he endured chronic pain inspired his nurse, Tracey Hoffman, to make his dream come true. “Here we are talking about the end of his life, and he’s thinking about how he had never been in an airplane,” she said.

“I decided to put it on social media. … My phone started to explode.”

Over 25 pilots volunteered to give Booth his own private farewell flight, and Hoffman eventually connected with Bryan Ogle at Bowman Airport. On Feb. 25, Booth found himself soaring high above the ground.



Related:
Islamic Extremists Abduct at Least 200 People, Most of Them Women and Children

Aboard a small plane, he could see a dramatic view of the Ohio River, which had flooded just before the flight. Ogle even let him take the controls for a few minutes.

“It was an experience,” Booth said after landing. “It’s a different world all together up there.”

When asked what advice he’d give others, he said, “Try to do as much as you can, and don’t give up at all. You’ll find yourself going into a hole you don’t want to be in if you do.”

Booth passed away on April 5, and at the funeral, his family told Hoffman that the experience of watching him fly was truly beautiful.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , ,
Share
A graduate of Wheaton College with a degree in literature, Loren also adores language. He has served as assistant editor for Plugged In magazine and copy editor for Wildlife Photographic magazine.
A graduate of Wheaton College with a degree in literature, Loren also adores language. He has served as assistant editor for Plugged In magazine and copy editor for Wildlife Photographic magazine. Most days find him crafting copy for corporate and small-business clients, but he also occasionally indulges in creative writing. His short fiction has appeared in a number of anthologies and magazines. Loren currently lives in south Florida with his wife and three children.
Education
Wheaton College
Location
Florida
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Entertainment, Faith, Travel




Conversation