For John David Ledford, stepping foot on a fishing boat in Panama City Beach, Florida, was a dream come true.
“I’d do it again if they would take me,” Ledford said. “It you ever get the opportunity to go, you need to go.”
In October, he experienced his lifelong dream of going deep sea fishing and had a great time.
“It was more than I thought it would be. Fish in the ocean pull a lot better than they do here. I can’t believe how much more stout they are there.” He caught trigger fish and red snappers. “I couldn’t believe it was only that size.”
A native of Blue Ridge and resident of PruittHealth, he has loved fishing since he was a little kid. “My grandfather used to take me fishing up until I got in school. I’ve fished all my life in north Georgia.”
PruittHealth Hospice CNA Jessy Jones, who was one of six guests who traveled with Ledford, said the guide taught them how to do it. It’s a completely different technique. “You have to drop your bait to get past the scavenger fish.” She had never gone deep sea fishing either.
He’s always wanted to try deep sea fishing, but never had the opportunity to.
This fishing opportunity came as part of PruittHealth’s Commit to Caring Challenge through Second Wind Dreams. Every year, every PruittHealth location across four states partners with Second Wind Dreams, which is an internationally known nonprofit organization created to change the perception of aging through fulfilling elders’ dreams.
PruittHealth Hospice community relations coordinator Amy Beavers said Jones had brought the idea of a fishing trip for him to the Hospice team.
“I had great company,” Ledford said. His company included Jones, Beavers, PruittHealth Hospice Administrator Morgan Thomas, PruittHealth Hospice Volunteer Coordinator Roger Beavers, PruittHealth Skilled Nursing Facility CNA Ryan Knight and Ledford’s daughter, Nina Hyde.
Hyde had never gone fishing either. “It was a good experience for me, and her. We got to spend quality time together,” Ledford said. Beavers is his cousin who he hadn’t talked with in a long time. They got to reconnect.
He ate very well on the trip including eating lobster and alligator for the first time. He’d never had lobster or alligator before. “It had a taste to it’s own. It was good. I would have had a bunch of it.”
Ledford said the trip gave him lifelong friends. Other activities on the trip included a stop at Buc-ees in Auburn, Alabama, and an airboat tour.
