A veteran’s last wish was fulfilled by hundreds of kindhearted motorcyclists who traveled from near and far.
Bob Money, 77, was told by doctors at the Veterans hospital that they could do nothing else for his heart, and that it was failing and he had only a few months to live.
Money told his nephew, Richard Money, his final wish, “He had a wish a while back to have 100 bikes come and visit him,” Richard Money said.
Richard and his wife, Linda, began planning how to bring their friends and local motorcyclists together to visit Bob.
“‘You got biker friends don’t you?’ Bob Money asked Richard Money. “I said, ‘Sure I do,'” Richard Money said. “He said, ‘Could you bring a few of them up, I’d like to have you guys come up and visit me.'”
They asked friends to help put the word out and get as many people as possible to help grant Bob’s last wish. They were expecting 90 bikes, but the response they got blew them away.
“Overwhelming, that’s all I can say,” Richard Money said. “Amazing.”
“It’s so powerful, right?” Linda Money said. “That when you put out a call, this biker community, this veterans group, these people will rally no matter what.”
More than 300 bikers turned out for the surprise and most met at Bucky’s gas station at 42nd and Grover and rode 43 miles to Wahoo.
“We can express to him just how much his service meant to the world and to our family,” Linda Money said. “We can hopefully send him off with a really great powerful memory.”
Bob Money sat and watched them from outside his assisted living facility in Wahoo, Liberty House. He was hoping that his kids were coming for the day and that around 20 of Richard Money’s biker friends would stop by and visit him.
“I can’t tell you what his reaction is going to be because it’s going to be priceless, I can tell you that,” Richard Money said before the surprise.
But when he saw the parade of motorcycles at the corner in front of the Liberty House, he was stumped.
The bikes revved up their engines and waved to the veteran.
“It’s really nice seeing I don’t have a long ways to go,” Bob Money said. “Something like this you know, (it’s) like in the movies.”
“I should be crying already, but I held back.”
“The heart people at the Veterans hospital, they can’t help so they gave me months to live,” Bob Money said. “so something like this — nice, yeah.”
Bob Money was understandable teary eyed before taking his victory lap around Wahoo. He lead the pack of 300 motorcycles while seated on his electric wheelchair, taking them down the main street, joking that his wheelchair was a Harley.
“It goes six mph and it’s kind of quiet,” Bob Money laughed.
“This is God working in our life,” Richard Money said. “I believe that truly, you know, and it’s just amazing. It’s just a wonderful, wonderful feeling.”
“It will help his family have an absolutely positive, wonderful last memory of Bob,” Linda Money said. “For me it’s like we’ve been able to give him a last gift.”
