Dying Teen Fulfills Stunning Bucket List Item: Tasering Somebody
A 16-year-old girl with terminal leukemia got to fulfill at least one item on her bucket list in a stunning fashion: getting to Taser someone.
Doctors recently told Alyssa Elkins she has four months to live. So she put together a list of things she’d like to do in her final days, according to WCMH TV.
Along with things like getting a cute puppy, visiting Disney World and trying on wedding dresses, Elkins had another unusual request: to shoot a stun gun at someone.
Elkins, who lives on a farm near McConnelsville, Ohio, got the idea when she saw a video of her uncle, Ohio State Highway Patrolman Josh Barry, being hit with a Taser during his training.
She giggled at the way he writhed after being hit, so she added “Taser someone” to the list, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Elkins fulfilled her dream on Sunday after eight employees of the Newark Police Department volunteered to be hit with a Taser by the teen.
She stunned them one at a time in front of a group of 50 people, all of whom yelled “Taser! Taser! Taser!” before Elkins pulled the trigger. Each volunteer was held by two spotters to keep them from crumpling to the ground, the paper said.
One of the volunteers, Sgt. Doug Bline, admits being hit with a Taser wasn’t his first choice of fun activities, but he was happy to do it for Elkins.
Seeing how the volunteers writhed after being Tasered was an experience for Elkins.
“I don’t like inflicting pain on people,” she told the station. “I didn’t know it was going to be that painful really.”
The next bucket list item may be a little less painful, but no less stunning: a family trip to Disney World in February, according to the Associated Press.
Article Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alyssa-elkins-dying-wish-tasing-someone_us_588f6f44e4b0522c7d3bd444?section=us_weird-news
Image Source: http://petcommunitycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/wishlist_edit-630x320-600x320.jpg
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. terminal- occurring at or causing the end of life
2. stun gun- a battery-powered, handheld weapon that fires an electric charge when held against a person and activated by a trigger or button, used, especially by police, to immobilize a person briefly and without injury
3. giggled- to laugh in a silly, often high-pitched way, especially with short, repeated gasps and titters
4. writhed- to twist the body about, or squirm, as in pain, violent effort, etc.
5. volunteered- a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking
6. trigger- a small projecting tongue in a firearm that, when pressed by the finger,actuates the mechanism that discharges the weapon
7. crumpling- to cause to collapse or give way suddenly
8. inflicting-to impose as something that must be borne or suffered
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What is a bucket list?
2. What was the kid’s first item on her bucket list and why?
3. What is a taser?
4. Who actually fulfilled her first item on the bucket list?
5. Why did the police agreed to be tasered?
6. What are the items on your bucket list for this year?
7. How do you envision making your bucket list a reality?
8. If you had only 3 days to live, what would be on your bucket list and why?
