ATLANTA — A Braves fan from South Carolina was surprised by his hospice nurse with tickets to his first game, according to a video posted by the center on Monday.
Don McCorkle is a patient at a PruittHealth Hospice Center in Columbia. He's also a former baseball player who loves the Braves. This was one of the first things Hannah Burris, the hospice's administrator and nurse, realized.
"Every time I walked in the home, he was watching the Braves, whether it be a new game, an old game, whether it was 8:00 in the morning or 10:00 at night, he was watching the Braves," Burris said in the video at the game with McCorkle. "And so we our conversations focused on the Braves."
Not long after meeting McCorkle, she learned he played minor league baseball for the Cubs and in Japan in the Army Reserve. But he'd had never been to his favorite team's game, and Burris wanted to fulfill that dream.
"I watch the Braves any night they are on, when I can," McCorkle said. "And I have learned so much."
When she told him the news, she said, McCorkle was teary-eyed and excited.
"And he said, 'I never imagined anybody in the world would make this big of a stink over me.' And I was like, But this is it," Burris said. "This is for you. And you're special to all of us and all of us that are here."
Burris shared how happy she was to make this happen for him and spoke more about how amazing her job is - managing the end of another's life.
"And I think it just shows that hospice is a very special program. We're here for the long haul. We're not here just for those last hours of life. We're here to tell you that this is a benefit that you deserve, and you've earned it. And we want to give it to you."
Hospice patient, Braves fan and former ball player from South Carolina goes to Truist Park for first time
