86-year-old Lester Warner had all but given up trying to fight his late-stage cancer. The retired pretzel baker decided, along with his family, to stop treatment last month. By this point, his body had been racked by chemo and radiation.
Lester is a lifelong hunter though, and he wasn’t about to let a little advanced cancer stop him from indulging in Pennsylvania’s two-week rifle deer season.
"He just assumed he would be going. We decided we were going to play along with it: 'Yeah, we can't wait for hunting season, Dad,''' recalled Lester's son, Brian.
Lester worked with a physical therapist, pushing to regain his lost strength. Brian, impressed with his father’s progress, decided to give him a helping hand: he dragged an old recliner up Broadtop Mountain, near his Huntingdon County dairy farm, so his dad would have a comfortable spot for the season.
On opening day, father and son waited -- Lester sitting in the recliner and sipping coffee, trying to fight off the 19-degree chill. Brian had armed him with a .243 Winchester, a gun easy on the recoil.
They didn’t expect much; one rarely bags anything on opening day. But when a large eight-point buck came out of the woods -- the largest either ever had the chance to take down.
"Well, shoot it,'' Warner told Brian.
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"No, you're gonna shoot it,'' his son replied.
Lester stood up from the recliner and took aim. The buck bolted. He followed it for 80 or 90 yards. Then, as it slowed down, he pulled the trigger.
A perfect shot.
Lester turned to his son and said: "Never give up.''
"That's right, Dad.''
"I was shocked. In my wildest dreams I didn't think he would get a buck this year,'' said Shirley, who's been married to Les for 53 years. "My son and I cried because it was a miracle...there's no other explanation.'
The moment isn’t lost on Lester.
“Everything seems to be turning out well for me, and I know the Lord’s been with us.”
