GRANDVIEW, MO (KCTV) -
An area man's last wish is coming true on the open road.
When a hospice worker asked Bill Thome if he could do one thing one more time, he answered quickly that he'd want to get back on a Harley.
Thome was all smiles Wednesday.
"It was good, I didn't think I'd get to do that again," he said.
The 78-year-old Korean War veteran used to ride much faster than the ride he took part in Wednesday. He raced motorcycles in the 60s. These days he's mostly confined to a bed, but he got a taste of the familiar rush.
"Yea I did, a big taste of it. Worth every bit of it, I loved it," Thome said with a laugh.
Grandview police and about 25 riders, many vets themselves, helped Thome live out his dream through a ride organized by the Patriot Guard Riders, the Gatekeepers Motorcycle Club and the Blue Justice Motorcycle Club.
"This is one of those things it's an honor and a privilege to do. If this is what it takes to make a guy like that happy and give him a good wish like that, I'd do it every day of the week," Deputy Police Chief Dean Hutson said.
Hutson didn't hesitate to take a day off work when he got the call to help.
"(Organizers said to me) We've got this ride for a Korean War vet, he's in a hospice, we're kind of doing a last wish-type thing for him and we need a sidecar. I've got a sidecar rig, so that was a no-brainer," Hutson said.
Mary Lou Hunt, Thome's hospice worker, wasted no time putting this all together after he told her about his wish to ride one last time. She said she began making calls and, two weeks later, the idea became a reality.
"When we saw his face as he was pulling away he was grinning from ear to ear. It was worth every bit of work we did to put this together," she said.
"I want to thank everybody for all they've done, I know they put out a lot of energy and such," Thome said to all the organizers.
Thome said his favorite part of the day was just having the wind in his hair.
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