[Xtine]

Boy Dies While Returning From Bear Hunt

Jonathan Kerr never got to sleep on his bear skin rug.

The 10-year-old boy died Thursday while flying back to his home in Kennesaw, Ga., less than two days after his father Bruce shot the bear while on a hunting trip in Prince George. The plane was 40 minutes away from Atlanta when the terminally-ill Jonathan succumbed to liver cancer, a disease he had battled for three years.[/b]

Please give your reactions to this.

[picklesmama]

I think it's sad that he died and sad that his last wish was to take the life of another living thing for sport

[the_elmel]

I'm sad the little boy died. I'm also sad another life, regardless of species, was taken as well. At least he got his last wish even if he didn't get to sleep on the rug.

I don't really know what to think of this situation overall. It's a little too bizarre for me.

[Gabzy]

I'm just sad he chose to kill an innocent bear....and as a last wish.

Sorry...that just takes away any sadness I'd feel for him...

[picklesmama]

I'm just sad he chose to kill an innocent bear....and as a last wish.

Sorry...that just takes away any sadness I'd feel for him...[/b]

You would think dying would have taught him and his family an appreciation for life wouldn't you?

[Gabzy]

You would think dying would have taught him and his family an appreciation for life wouldn't you?
[/b]

Yup! But obviously not....

[Xtine]

I'm just sad he chose to kill an innocent bear....and as a last wish.

Sorry...that just takes away any sadness I'd feel for him...[/b]

I agree... honestly, my first thought was "so you needed to kill an innocent animal before you died - i'm glad you won't get to kill anymore"

I'm surprised that children this young are taught / encouraged to hunt. It's tragic to me that the last thing he wanted to do with his life was to destroy another. I cried at this story, but for the bear and not for the boy.

[picklesmama]

I think he could have had an equally fun and memorable father/son experience just camping and enjoying the beauty of the BC wilderness and it's wildlife
I abhor hunting!

[jhmomofmany]

Honestly, I think it is misguided to go to such lengths to grant a dying wish to a terminally ill child. Almost every request I've heard of is so selfish and unreasonable for a family whose resources must already be strained. If the boy in the article didn't have a terminal disease, we would probably say he behaved like a real brat in expecting to be flown across the country to kill an animal for sport. But since he was dying, well, we just can't say things like that.

The death of any child is a tragedy, but teaching any child (even a dying one) to be so selfish is, IMO, a tragedy also.

[AmberL]

I'm glad he was able to do what he wanted as his last wish. I understand a lot of people are against hunting...and that's fine. But many are not. The bear's meat was frozen, assumably to be eaten, and his family will have the rug to remember the trip and their son by. I'm sure it was a great time (though bittersweet) for the dad and I'm glad he had that.

While I wouldn't personally choose hunting as a dying wish (my dh would though), the important thing is that someone helped make that wish come true. I don't think that should be downplayed just because his wish was to hunt. What if he had wanted to spend the day fishing...that's killing another living thing too.

[jhmomofmany]

I'm glad he was able to do what he wanted as his last wish. I understand a lot of people are against hunting...and that's fine. But many are not. The bear's meat was frozen, assumably to be eaten, and his family will have the rug to remember the trip and their son by. I'm sure it was a great time (though bittersweet) for the dad and I'm glad he had that.

While I wouldn't personally choose hunting as a dying wish (my dh would though), the important thing is that someone helped make that wish come true. I don't think that should be downplayed just because his wish was to hunt. What if he had wanted to spend the day fishing...that's killing another living thing too.[/b]

Why is this so important?

[AmberL]

Why is this so important?
[/b]

I think of it like this. This kid had a wish...to do something. Once you're dead...you can't do stuff any more. If someone has the ability to make this kids dream of hunting bear with his dad come true...why are people bothered by that? There are plenty of things I'd like to do before I die. Will I expect someone else to pay for it to make it happen? Of course not. But i didn't see where this kid expected it either. IMO, a nice thing was done. Would people be pitching such a fit if his request had been to go to Disney Land??

And I think it's important becauase as children, they have fewer life experiences than adults do. And if someone can put a little joy into a dying child's life....

MY guess is that at least one of the parents is a big hunter and talks big about it with the kids. I can not imagine any other reason why a kid would choose that as their last wish.

I wonder what the native americans would say about this? Is he connected forever with the bear now? (it made me think of legends of the fall )

[thepinkleprechaun]

Um, he's dead now I'm sure he doesn't care anymore whether he killed a bear or not. I think it's sad that he had to bring an innocent animal down with him! He could have just gone to Disneyland or something.

[AnnD]

I think it's sad that he died and sad that his last wish was to take the life of another living thing for sport [/b]

I think he could have had an equally fun and memorable father/son experience just camping and enjoying the beauty of the BC wilderness and it's wildlife
I abhor hunting![/b]

I agree! I am so sorry that he died, no child should die. But, I despise hunting and kind of lose respect for people who engage in it. It was probably something he was raised with.

[nette]

I have no problem with hunting, and as long as the kill wasn't wasted I wont have issues with it. I think it was a wonderful things to grant his wish and gave him something exciting to look forward as his life came to a close, I'm glad he got to spend it the way he wanted. I found the story heart-warming and sad.

that is so SAD that so many of you say your sadness was taken away.. this lil boy was freaking 10 yrs old and DIED. it was a BEAR. the meat was frozen to be eaten. hunting to survive was how it was done for years, just because NOW you can walk into a grocery store and get the food you want, makes hunting wrong? it sickens me to think that there are ppl on THIS site who NO LONGER find it sad that a young child had to die, just because he chose to HUNT. and i see NOTHING wrong with granting a DYING childs last wish. my grandparents always wanted to do a lot of things before they died, now they do them... had they known they were going to die at a specific time, they would have done them earlier. like AmberL said, what if he wanted to go fishing? is that wrong too? my parents live on the river, we fish A LOT... then have a fish fry. i guess we are just HORRID ppl.

[lesliek0211]

I am a bit shcoked by the opinions on this. I can't stand hunting, and would never do it, but to not feel for this child and their family because he chose to kill a bear before he died obviously it was legal, and as such I definitely wouldn't play down the boys death because he killed an animal.... i am baffled by some of the insensitive comments regarding this... I'm just

[Banned-luvnallmyboys]

I too am shocked and saddened by all these responses. I hope I never, ever feel so little compassion to a dying person of any age, let alone a child, to say "aww, poor bear". The memories made on that trip are worth the lives of a dozen animals, and I am so thankful those parents will have pictures of the pride on their son's face with that bear. I am also glad they will have a rug to remind them of the trip every time they walk into whatever room they put it in.

How many of you who are appalled eat meat? How is hunting less moral and sadder than a slaughter house end after a life of cages? I eat a whole lot of meat, but I would certainly prefer that what I eat has had a good, free life until it became dinner. Nothing from that bear was wasted, so I would think that whomever asked about what the Native Americans would think would know that they would probably be pleased, and that they hunted plenty themselves. Not that that has much to do with this dying child anyway.

[frgsonmysox]

I too am shocked and saddened by all these responses. I hope I never, ever feel so little compassion to a dying person of any age, let alone a child, to say "aww, poor bear". The memories made on that trip are worth the lives of a dozen animals, and I am so thankful those parents will have pictures of the pride on their son's face with that bear. I am also glad they will have a rug to remind them of the trip every time they walk into whatever room they put it in.

How many of you who are appalled eat meat? How is hunting less moral and sadder than a slaughter house end after a life of cages? I eat a whole lot of meat, but I would certainly prefer that what I eat has had a good, free life until it became dinner. Nothing from that bear was wasted, so I would think that whomever asked about what the Native Americans would think would know that they would probably be pleased, and that they hunted plenty themselves. Not that that has much to do with this dying child anyway.[/b]

ITA. I'm shocked and appalled by the post in this thread. People get in an uproar about the "bringing peanut butter" to school threads, about how insensitive people were to others needs, but then post crap like this!