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Just cause you've got cancer it's OK to go out and slaughter wildlife? I might have a dying wish to give Georgie Thompson from Sky Sports News a good rattling, but if she's not keen on the idea I shouldn't still be allowed to do it.

"To be honest Rich, I think it might be like riding a bike without a saddle," she'd explain. "Tough," I'd say. "I'm dying, here, bite on this, I won't be long" I'd retort. Should I be afforded such a violation cause I'm poorly, bless me? No. One third of us get cancer and a shit load of other people will battle some other horrible illness and all of us will die anyway; you don't get a license to do whatever you want just cause you're about to expire.

And anyway, of all the things a child could have as a dying wish, this kid wants to go out and kill something. It would be physically demanding for him, but he didn't want to waste a second more of his life, cause you see cancer makes you realise how precious life is. I know the yanks don't get irony, but jeez.

BOY 10, GETS LAST WISH BEAR-HUNT, THEN DIES

Jonathan Kerr never got to sleep on his bear skin rug.

The 10-year-old boy died Thursday while flying back to his home in Kennesaw, Ga., less than two days after his father Bruce shot the bear while on a hunting trip in Prince George. The plane was 40 minutes away from Atlanta when the terminally-ill Jonathan succumbed to liver cancer, a disease he had battled for three years.

It was Jonathan's dying wish to hunt bear in British Columbia. The trip was made possible by Prince George outfitters Scott and Lynn Pichette and Thom Halligan of Safari Club International (SCI), who made the necessary arrangements through the SCI Safari Wish Program. Jonathan and his father Bruce spent five days hunting on or near the Pichette's guiding territory east of Prince George, which extends to the Bowron Lakes.

"The little boy was sick, and there was no way he was going to beat this cancer thing, no way," said Halligan, from his home in Gig Harbor, Wash. "I saw the progression (of the disease) in the 10 days he was with me and he was getting worse."

During the seven-day hunt, Jonathan saw plenty of bear and did get one shot off. But when it became apparent he was too weak to hold a gun, let alone shoot it, Halligan purchased a license and hunting tag for Bruce Kerr, who shot and killed a bear last Tuesday, the day before they made the 12-hour drive back to Washington State. The bear was butchered in Prince George, the meat was frozen, and Halligan made the arrangements to have the hide prepared and made into a rug, which will be sent to the Kerr family in Kennesaw as soon as it's ready.

"That bear rug's going to be around for a long time, and that was probably the finest time together Jonathan and his father ever spent, because it was totally them, doing something they wanted to do, hunt, and that's something that really memorable to Bruce," said Halligan.

Jonathan died Thursday, and his funeral was on Sunday. At the time his travel arrangements were made, the plan was to fly from Seattle to Charleston, West Virginia, where Jonathan's mother Sheila was visiting family members. The Kerrs were then going to drive back to Kennesaw, 30 kilometres north of Atlanta.

"The one I feel sorry for is Sheila -- she said goodbye to her son, to have a good time, and she didn't realize that she was really saying goodbye to him," said Halligan.

"I'll remember Jonathan for his courage and determination and his will to live and I think this trip gave him and his family five months more of life. When he found out he was going bear hunting in B.C. he told everybody in the state of Georgia who was willing to listen. Maybe we did buy him and family some time."

Halligan and the Pichettes, who are also SCI members, want to provide a hunting trip every year for somebody they meet through the SCI Safari Wish Program. Halligan said it will now be called the Jonathan Kerr Memorial Safari Wish Program.

He'll arrange to send to the Pichettes a .306 calibre rifle designed with smaller kids in mind, to be left for future Safari Wish Program hunters who come to Prince George. The gun will have a muzzle break and be equipped with low-recoil ammunition to help lessen the impact of firing a shot.

The Delta Airlines flight crew who attended to Jonathan at the time of his death planned to attend his funeral in Kennesaw and promised Halligan they would try to arrange for free flights for the children and their families. Halligan also met a conservation officer in Prince George who is seeking permission from his office to have the necessary licenses and tags donated. Halligan would like SCI to make the trip happen three or four times a year.

"This is the venue I've chosen to pursue, and I'm not dealing with athletes, I'm dealing with terminally-ill or critically-ill children and I'm going to lose some of them, so this has to keep going," said Halligan.

"I've learned so much from this trip because of Jonathan, and I can make it easier for those who follow me (organizing similar trips) so they don't have to reinvent the wheel to get this done. It's a sad thing, but good things will come of it."