Nurse arranges plane to fly terminally ill father to see his son play football one last time: “I was just so happy”

Nurse arranges plane to fly terminally ill father to see his son play football one last time: “I was just so happy”

Nurse arranges plane to fly terminally ill father to see his son play football one last time: "I was just so happy”.
Nurse arranges plane to fly terminally ill father to see his son play football one last time: “I was just so happy”. Courtesy of Hospice of Lake Cumberland.

A terminally ill father shared an emotional and heartwarming moment with his son, after a determined hospice nurse arranged a plane to fly him to watch his son play football for the final time — and for Scott and Cade Sullivan, it was the moment of a lifetime.

 Scott Sullivan boards a private plane to see his son play the first game of his sophomore high school season. The plane ride was arranged by his hospice nurse, Jerree Humphrey.
Scott Sullivan boards a private plane to see his son play the first game of his sophomore high school season. The plane ride was arranged by his hospice nurse, Jerree Humphrey. Courtesy of Hospice of Lake Cumberland.

Scott Sullivan of Somerset, Kentucky, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in early August. Healthcare professionals gave the 50-year-old Sullivan only a few weeks to live and discharged him to hospice care.

As he battled cancer from his home, Sullivan only had one wish – to live long enough see his son’s first football game of his sophomore year at Pulaski County High School.

So, having nothing to lose, he asked his nurse, Jerree Humphrey of Hospice of Lake Cumberland, if it would be possible to make the trip.

The pair developed a friendship quickly – but the nurse was hesitant to recommend his request.

“I thought you know you’re talking seven or eight hours in the car and I said I don’t know how safe that would be or how realistic,” said Humphrey.

But not wanting to give up on the request, she reached out to a nearby airport and within days a local dentist, Dr. Denny Brummett, offered to fly Sullivan to the game on his personal plane – amazing right?

Sullivan was overcome with emotion by the news. “Words could not be put into sentences or phrases to describe how I felt at that time,” he said. “I was just so happy to see my son.”

On September 11, Humphrey, Brummett, Sullivan and Sullivan’s girlfriend boarded the plane for game day. Instead of sitting in the stands, they sat on a hill away from all the fans as an extra precaution.

When Cade Sullivan saw his father, he ran up the hill and hugged him with everything he had. The elder Sullivan says it was a ‘Majical’ moment because they created a memory that his son will always be able to remember when he’s gone.

“You could just not help but cry,” Humphrey said. “He just embraced him so hard and was just so thankful for him to be there.”

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