Below is my original post: Following my original post is a thank you letter to all that offered help, prayers, items, and good thoughts, from Brennan's parents. They asked that I post it on here.
Good morning all. I rarely post on here, but do read the threads often. The reason for my post today is to see if there would be a chance the community on here would be willing to help out this young man? He is new to hunting, only in his second year, and absolutely loves the outdoors. I've been fortunate to have coached this young man the last four years, and he and his family have become close friends.....You see, late this spring or early this summer he will be going in for open heart surgery. I contacted DFW to check about the special permit to allow him to harvest an elk or a deer, to see if he would possibly qualify. Because the RCW is written in such a way he would have to be in the last stages of life, he doesn't qualify. DFW has been good in pointing me towards some land owners who may be willing to allow him to have a damage tag for cow elk, but I haven't heard anything back from those landowners. And, when speaking to the landowners, they were very understanding and thoughtful of the situation. DFW was as well.
My question to you all here would be: do you happen to know of any landowner who may have a depredation/damage tag available that would be willing to let this young man have an opportunity to harvest an elk this year? I would be willing to trade out a day or two worth of work over the summer for the landowner in exchange for the privilege for him to hunt. If you know of anyone, please let me know. You can reply here, or you can PM me. Also, he and his family do not know I am trying to do this for him, as I would hate to get their hopes up.
Thank you in advance.
From Brennan's parents:
As we sit down to write all of you that made this lifelong memory possible, it becomes evident to us right away, that there are no words that could adequately show our appreciation. Every one of you has etched an amazing experience into our son's life forever.
That being said, one of the things we have noticed throughout this experience is, we often found ourselves saying, "They didn't have to do that'. And it wasn't until today that we realized the significance of it. The fact that each and every one of you didn't have to do what you did, really makes it what it is. You did it for the sole purpose of giving our son an experience of a lifetime. And that was it! It wasn't contingent on something else, it wasn't to benefit you at all, and it certainty wasn't because you were under any obligation to do it. It is a true reflection of who each and every one of you are.
So, we truly thank you with everything we've got!
We can only pray that we are able to pass along the kindness you all have shown to Brennan to someone else someday. And that we are able to recognize the opportunity as you all have. More importantly, we pray that this experience has also etched that desire into Brennan's heart as well.
We have always told Brennan that his heart condition is going to give him some amazing opportunities to help people in the future. He will be a testimony of God's power, grace, and love. We tell you all this, because knowing what this meant to him will encourage him to return the gift to someone else in his position someday. We often don't take the time to recognize the effect a good deed will have down the road. But, I hope you all do in this situation.
Thanks again I hope to thank you all in person soon.
Ryan and Holly Moody
P.S. We know some of you have wanted to know how things go with Brennan in the future. So as the surgery date gets closer, we will be starting a blog or facebook page to keep everyone posted. Just send mhbrewster71 your email address and I'll make sure you get the link.
