Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Terminally ill man gets last wish to gamble in Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A terminally ill New Jersey man says he got one of his last wishes fulfilled this week: to drink a cold beer and play a few more hands of blackjack at his favorite casino in Atlantic City.

John Mudry and his family visited Bally's Atlantic City on Tuesday to fulfill one of the 71-year-old man's wish of having one last big day at the casino. The Press of Atlantic City reports Mudry visited the casino with help from his hospice caretakers and health care providers.

Mudry's niece, Kelly Smentkowski, says her uncle has a rare form of non-treatable bladder cancer, and that he "didn't want to stay in the hospital anymore."

Mudry ended up winning a few hundred dollars on the casino floor.