Jon Stanley was an Indiana veteran battling lung and brain cancer who had come to his final days. He had been sent home to stay in hospice care when nothing more could be done. All his family could do was make his dying wish come true. And they did.
Stanley’s wish? To hear the rumble of motorcycles one last time.
David Thompson was a local biker who was contacted by Mike Smith, a member of Jon’s family, about his desire to see Jon’s last wish come true. “I was contacted this morning about 6:30 this morning by Mike Smith through Facebook—and he informed me about Jon, you know he’s terminal, and he’s not looking really good, and one of his wishes was to hear a bunch of motorcycles out his window,” said David.
David Thompson sent out a post to help gather bikers for the cause. Soon he had hundreds of reposts, and shortly after, more than 100 bikers met up and rode two miles to Jon’s house.
Sometimes a dying person's last wish is just to hear the sound of a Harley in their window. This is Jon Stanley he has…
Posted by David Thompson on Monday, June 12, 2017
But Jon didn’t only get to hear the bikes outside his home, he was able to sit, side by side with his wife on one, just one last time.
Said Jon’s granddaughter, Kristy Stewart, “He got to get on a bike one last time, and that was great.”
Jon’s wife, Brenda, knows that those moments meant everything to her husband. “He heard the bikes. He heard them,” she said. “That’s the last thing he heard, the revving, the bikes. I know he’s happy.”
Pat Gragg was one of the bikers who participated in the rally. “There were riders from other cities, other districts, other regions, jackets with patches from all sorts of riding clubs — everybody just came from everywhere,” Gragg told InsideEdition.com about that day. “We rode over, surrounded his house and we revved. Windows were shaking, we knew he felt it.” Four bikers volunteered to bring Jon out and put him on one of the bikes. “It felt good,” Pat Gragg said. “It felt great. Everybody was crying, because we could just feel that we’re helping bring this man peace.”
Hours later, wish fulfilled, Jon Stanley left this world, knowing that strangers and family alike had come together to celebrate his life.
Wrote one giver on the family’s GoFundMe page: “Endless miles of beautiful highway in Heaven…enjoy your eternal ride with God.”
