The Ottawa Citizen recently reported that Hunt of a Lifetime and a Canadian outfitter, Young Scouts Outfitters, are teaming to help seriously ill 17-year-old Jacob Brubaker fulfill his dream of hunting in Canada. Brubaker has a congenital heart condition which has required four open heart surgeries so far.
Hunt of a Lifetime was created after the Make A Wish Foundation announced it would no longer sponsor any activities involving hunting or firearms.
There were a number of oddities in the Ottawa Citizen story. The most egregious was the repeated description of Hunt of a Lifetime as a “controversial organization.” for example, the paper notes that Hunt of a Lifetime is “a controversial organization that arranges hunting and fishing trips for youngsters…” When did arranging hunting and fishing trips become “controversial”?
The Citizen repeats a perplexing quote from Canadian Make A Wish co-founder Robb Lucy who said, “it just seems like an anathema to try to do something for a child and the family and the extended family that provides some joy, but then also takes another life.”
So, if a dying child’s dream was to work with a world class chef, is Lucy going to insist that they prepare a vegan meal? If a child wants to visit Disney, is Make A Wish going to make sure they’re not paying for any hot dogs or hamburgers?
The problem is it is absurd for Lucy to compare a dying child with a deer, which he implicitly does.
Finally, the article notes that Brubaker lives in “southern Pennsylvania,” but avoids saying what city he lives in. The reason for this is explained in the very last paragraph of the article,
Ms. [Tina] Pattison [of Hunt of a Lifetime] now asks the media not to reveal the exact location of where the children live because “the kids are getting mean and nasty calls from animal activists.”
Imagine that.
Source:
Outfitter to grant child’s last wish that others wouldn’t — a deer hunt. Kelly Cryderman, The Ottawa Citizen, August 25, 2001.