There are certain things which we come to associate with our happiest memories, whether it's a certain smell or particular album. In short, sometimes it's the simplest things which can remind us of the good in this world and life. And for one dying man, this simple thing was the roar of a Harley-Davidson.
So, not wanting 61-year-old Jon Stanley to go to his grave without having his final wish fulfilled, 200 bikers surrounded his home to let him hear to roar of Harley-Davidsons one last time.
Check out out the heartwarming moment for yourself in the video below:Prior to being diagnosed with terminal lung and brain cancer, Stanley had been an avid biker.
The illness meant that Stanley was eventually incapacitated and forced to use a respirator to breathe. When it progressed to this stage, his brother-in-law, Michael Smith, got in touch with a local biker named David Thompson.
"I was contacted this morning about 6:30 this morning by Mike Smith through Facebook - and he informed me about Jon, you know he's terminal, and he's not looking really good, and one of his wishes was to hear a bunch of motorcycles out his window," Thompson said to WBND.
In response to this request, Thompson put out an open call on the website for bikers to surround Stanley's house in South Bend, Indiana, and grant his dying wish. The Epoch Times reports that, to Stanley, this was "life's greatest sound".
"Sometimes a dying person's last wish is just to hear the sound of a Harley in their window. This is Jon Stanley he has terminal cancer. I personally met with his family this morning and learned Jon is a vet and was an abate member who has rode for years," Thompson wrote.
"This is his new Harley he just got and only rode 3 times! I know this is short notice but bikers take care of bikers!" he concluded.
Then, just six hours after asking bikers to assemble, 200 of them on more than 100 bikes turned up outside Stanley's home.
The touching incident happened on June 12, 2017. Stanley was then taken outside by his family and put into a sidecar so that he could not only hear the roar of the Harley-Davidsons but feel their vibrations too.
In an interview with Inside Edition, one of the bikers who participated, Pat Schoff Gragg, said: "You could tell he enjoyed the feeling of that one last rumble. He was holding on."
The biker added that the people who turned up weren't just from the local area. Many had driven there specifically from other towns to give Stanley the ultimate bikers' sendoff.
"We rode over, surrounded his house and we revved. Windows were shaking, we knew he felt it," he said.
This reaction was shared by Thompson who also remarked: "You could just feel the vibrations. He knew we were out there. He raised his arm up."
A few hours after having his last wish fulfilled, Jon passed away in his wife's arms.