DES MOINES, Iowa – Saturday morning, 84-year-old hospice patient Bob Mills flew a plane for the first time in forty years thanks to UnityPoint Health Des Moines Legacy and Last Wishes Program.

Mills said he was thankful for the opportunity to fly again.

“Legacy isn’t about death and dying, It’s about life and living and that’s what they’re doing they’re giving us a second chance,” Mills said.

Mills said he had beat his cancer diagnosis and plans to leave hospice.

“I’m going to discharge off of hospice. I know in my own mind now that I can swallow and I can eat and everything, and I’m going to beat this,” Mills said.

Bob Reid, the Director of Development at UnityPoint Health Des Moines Foundation, said that cases like Mills are rare but happen during hospice care.

“We’ve seen it frequently where a patient that’s in the hospital will come to hospice care, and because they’re home and because we’ve kind of changed the way we’re working with them, they rally. And I think that’s what Bob is experiencing now,” Reid said.

Legacies and Last Wishes is a UnityPoint Health Des Moines Foundation program that provides hospice patients with the chance to fulfil their final dreams.

Reid said that Legacies and Last Wishes is funded through donations.

“People are able to do incredible things and have incredible services because donors are willing to give and make their lives easier,” Reid said.