Ship Bottom wish
Burlington City resident Patricia Kelly wanted to do one last thing before she dies and the Ship Bottom Patrolman Ronald Holloway helped make it happen. (Ship Bottom Police Department Facebook page).
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SHIP BOTTOM - A borough police officer recently helped a stranger with terminal cancer fulfill her wish of seeing the Jersey Shore one more time before she dies.
Burlington City resident Patricia Kelly - who is in hospice care with a terminal diagnosis of acute leukemia - recently told her family that she would like to "go to the shore" one last time before she dies, 6abc.com reported.
Knowing that the 78-year-old Kelly would not be able to get onto the beach by herself, a family member reached out to the Ship Bottom Police Department for help.
On Saturday, Ship Bottom Patrolman Ronald Holloway drove Kelly to the water's edge where she enjoyed a moment with granddaughters looking out at the water, a group hug with family and friends, and a prayer circle that Holloway took part in, the report said.
The generosity of the Ship Bottom Police Department and Patrolman Holloway touched Kelly's family members, who shared the story social media.
"A BIG SHOUT OUT to Officer Ronald Holloway ... he is a man who not only protects and serves but genuinely cares ... his extraordinary kindness and character speaks volumes of the man he is," one family member wrote on the department's Facebook page.
Kelly told 6abc.com that being able to say goodbye to the shore, where she spent countless summers, was her "hurrah" and gives her peace.
"Oh they could have taking me right then, and I would have been the happiest person," she said. "That's my place. I'll be there forever. Just watch out - some people might step on me."
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