A man has used his late father's ashes to help him bowl a perfect game this week, in a touching tribute.
According to The New York Post, John Hinkle Jr, the son of NCAA bowling champion John Hinkle Senior, decided to honor his late father by filling a bowling ball with his cremated ashes following his death in 2016.
Using a bespoke ball, the 39-year-old Western Illinois University bowler set out with his brother Joe with him to their hometown alley, Landmark Lanes in Peoria, Illinois, with one goal in mind: a perfect game.
Hinkle Senior himself never managed to achieve that illustrious honor in his own lifetime. But it seems as though there was enough talent left in his ashes to achieve that magic 12-strike streak on April 12.
In an emotional post on Facebook following his 300-point score win, John Jr shared a video showing his incredible performance using the special ball, and captioned the footage:
"I can’t express what tonight means to me. I just bowled a 300 with my ball I put my [Dad's] ashes in. He never had a perfect game until NOW.
"Thank you so much Kayla Marie Johnson for putting his ashes into my bowling ball. Epic Night. [sic]"
Per The New York Post, John Jr later spoke about his achievement in an interview with the local news outlet WMBD-TV, stating: "I was talking to my brother and told him: 'I’m shooting a 300 with this ball.' [...] I had tears in my eyes in the 11th and 12th frames.
"I couldn’t tell you where that last ball went, I had so many tears just throwing it.
"It's special. Dad shot 298, 299 - never had a 300. I had goosebumps. Chills. He was there."
John then claimed that the night held special significance for him, as it was his father who introduced him to the sport.
Meanwhile, John's brother Joe commented on the amazing perfect score by joking irreverently: "This makes up for so many nights growing up when we slept in a bowling alley while our parents were finishing league night."
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