A Little Girl's Dying Wish Is To See Her Father

**Kim** · 20th-March-2008

The following was posted by Men's Rights Activist at the Stand Your Ground forum. It's a heart breaking story and a cause well worth our time and efforts. MRA has done an amazing job providing all the resources necessary, now all we need to do is take the time to send a letter or make a phone call.

I got this in an email, talking about this story:

http://www.kolnkgin.com/home/headlines/16762906.html

A Dying Wish
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Lincoln, Neb. Posted: 5:15 PM Mar 17, 2008Last Updated: 10:20 AM Mar 20, 2008Reporter: David JespersenEmail Address: mailto:david.jespersen@kolnkgin.com?subject=A
A little girl fights for her life, and her last wish is to see her father. But that wish
may not come true. "They didn't expect her to still be here. She's fighting,
day by day, minute by minute," said Vonda Yaeger, mother.
10/11 has followed the story of 10-year-old Jayci Yaeger as she battled brain tumors. Now doctors say she is about to lose that fight. Her last wish is to spend what time she has left with her father, but he is in a federal prison for drug charges.

Less than six months ago, Jayci was energetic, fun and upbeat. Now she's just a shadow of what she used to be -- lying in a hospital bed.

Jayci has brain tumors and doctors say she's dying. "What doctors say? They say there's nothing they can do for her. The tumors are growing and hemorrhaging, and right now nothing they can do for her, just keep her comfortable," Vonda Yaeger said.
In less than two months, cancer turned an energetic little girl into someone those who know her hardly recognize. During the fight, her family has been hopeful, but now reality is setting in.

"It's really hard to say it, but it's time now and she doesn't need to suffer anymore. She needs to be where she can be peaceful and happy and not in pain," Yaeger said.

There's one more thing Yaeger said her daughter needs -- her father, Jason. But he's in federal prison in South Dakota and has been denied repeated attempts to grant him a 30-day release. Yaeger was convicted of methamphetamine charges nearly five years ago.

"She expressed many times that she misses him, and he talks to her on the phone now and she cries. That's the only time I see her cry," Yaeger said.

In fact, Yaeger said the need to see her father is the only thing keeping Jayci going.
"I think she understands. She knows what the outcome is going to be. She's very
scared, and I think she's holding on for her father," Yaeger said.
Yaeger said denying Jayci's last wish is cruel, and goes beyond punishing Jason for any crime he ever committed.

"She didn't do anything wrong. He was there for her when she was born. He should be there for her when she goes," she said.

Jayci's family said they aren't looking to get Jason out of prison, or
shorten his sentence. They even asked for him to be put on electronic
surveillance while was in Lincoln, and he offered to serve double his remaining
time when he went back. Yankton Federal Prison Camp officials said they had
no comment on the situation.

Jayci's family just hopes they have a change of
heart before it's too late.

For those of you who have not already done so, please contact some or all
of the following people and ask that they help this dying girl to see her
father. I contacted the Make a Wish Foundation which is working on making this
young girls wish come true.
Then I sent this to the Governors of Nebraska and
South Dakota:
Governor,
A young soldier in Iraq emailed me about 10-year-old Jayci
Yaeger's wish to see her incarcerated father before she dies from brain tumors.
He's in a federal prison in South Dakota and earlier requests to prison
officials for Jayci to see her father have been denied.
Please intervene and help this small girl see her father.
Help her.
Sincerely,
Harry Crouch, President
National Coalition of Free Men

This was posted in response to the story
about the young girl:
Posted by: Do Something!
Location: USA on Mar 20, 2008 at
10:25 AM
If you want to do something about this case, contact the following
people. I've already made calls and explained my feelings on this (yes, I feel
tough on crime, but we should still be human. As long as the guy does not have a
history of violence, what's the harm in letting him see his dying daughter?) and
the politicians have been receptive.
I also called Gov. Mike Rounds. The more calls the better. Linda Asher / public relations - Yankton FPC Phone: 605-665-3262 Fax: 605-668-1113 E-mail address: yan/execassistant@bop.gov You could also contact the federal SD congressional delegates: Senator Tim Johnson........ (800) 537-0025 Senator John Thune..... Sioux Falls: (605) 334-9596 Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth......... (866) 371-8747 or the Yankton (18th) district state delegates: Jean Hunhoff (senate -R) Business: 605-668-8312 Garry Moore (house - D) Business: 605-665-3294 Charlii Gilson (house - R) Business 605-260-1600

More...

**bobx23456** · 20th-March-2008

I've been censored off of Stand Your Ground. They will have to get along without me.

Blesssings

Bob

**Kim** · 20th-March-2008

I've been censored off of Stand Your Ground. They will have to get along without me.

Well, act or don't act at your own discretion, but Stand Your Ground is not sponsoring this, it's merely the place where I heard about it. I'd be willing to bet that neither the man in jail, his little girl or the person who originated the e-mail have ever even heard of the Stand Your Ground forum.

**Marx** · 21st-March-2008

Yeah Bob, this is a little bit more than your ego dents from a banning... 'man up'.

**Kim** · 27th-March-2008

Good news, here's an update (compliments of poster 'Will' from my blog).

http://www.ketv.com/news/15717572/detail.html

Father Released From Prison To Visit Dying Daughter

POSTED: 8:04 pm CDT March 26, 2008
UPDATED: 8:24 am CDT March 27, 2008

OMAHA, Neb. -- An imprisoned father went to his dying daughter's bedside Wednesday, a visit federal authorities allowed only after being deluged with letters and phone calls from across the nation.

Jayci Yaeger, 10, has terminal brain cancer. Her family has been pleading with federal prison officials in Yankton, S.D., to allow her father, Jason Yaeger, to see his daughter before she dies.
On Wednesday afternoon, prison guards drove Jason Yaeger to a Lincoln hospice, where he spent several hours at her bedside. No one else was allowed in the room except Jason Yaeger, Jayci and the escorts.

Sources said Yaeger did leave the girl's side to consult with hospice counselors and get some direction on how to speak with the girl about what she was going through.

Prior to Wednesday, the prison warden had allowed Jason Yaeger three visits to his daughter, but had denied requests for a longer furlough or an early transfer to a halfway house in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The warden told Yaeger it was not viewed as an extraordinary circumstance.

Letters and e-mails from across the nation have reached the Yaeger family and appealed to the prison to allow the man to see his daughter. The family asked the media to share their story with the hope of encouraging prison officials to allow the visit.

He's scheduled to be released to a halfway house in August.

Yaeger asked President George W. Bush for clemency. Yaeger spent four years in a federal prison on meth-related charges. Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons would not confirm a visit took place.

Officials said they would only comment on a possible visit after a prisoner returned from a furlough.

On Thursday, Jayci's mother described Jayci's condition as minute-by-minute, saying the girl had gone into respiratory distress three times that day.

**RobYork** · 27th-March-2008

Hi Kim,

Great News !!!!

It also proves that letters / phone calls / e-mails have a real effect.

Robert.

**Marx** · 27th-March-2008

This is excellent - thank you to all who took an activist role in this.

**Ledburian** · 27th-March-2008

Sanity. Heartwarming. Humanity. And of course tragic.

**Kim** · 28th-March-2008

[QUOTE][Hi Kim,

Great News !!!!

It also proves that letters / phone calls / e-mails have a real effect.

/QUOTE]

I agree, Robert. If you get enough people who are willing to speak out, focused on a common goal, you can effect change.

**Marx** · 28th-March-2008

I also put this on the front page - I think we should celebrate the victories as well as discussing the less appealing parts of life.

http://antimisandry.com/120a-little-...see-her-father

**Kim** · 28th-March-2008

That's great, Karl.

I think it's very important that people see that we are able to make a difference.

**Kim** · 29th-March-2008

Thank you to khankrumthebulgar on Niceguy's forum for this,

Girl Succumbs to Cancer After Visit From Inmate Dad
Jayci Yaeger's Family Says Her Dying Wish Was to See Her Father
By CHRISTOPHER FRANCESCANI and SCOTT MICHELS

March 28, 2008 —

A 10-year-old girl died of brain cancer early this morning, shortly after receiving what her family said was her dying wish -- a visit from her incarcerated father.

"She was holding on to see her father," Ed Yaeger said of his niece Jayci Yaeger.

Jayci's father, Jason Charles Yaeger, is serving the final year of a five-year sentence for a drug conviction in a minimum security prison camp in South Dakota, a 3½-hour drive from his daughter who was in hospice care in Lincoln, Neb.

Officials, however, had denied Jason Charles Yaeger's repeated requests for a furlough so he could spend more time with his daughter, who suffered from terminal brain cancer.

Under the supervision of prison officials, Jason Yaeger visited Jayci Wednesday for about 20 minutes -- just days before she died.

"It's just unfortunate that the visit was cut so short," Ed Yaeger told ABC News.

The Yaegers are upset with prison officials because Jason Yaeger was not able to be with his daughter when she died.

"He was denied the proper good-bye," Lori Yaeger, Jayci's aunt, wrote in an e-mail Thursday.

Jason Charles Yaeger had pleaded repeatedly with prison officials to honor the bureau's apparent policy of allowing furloughs and transfers under "extraordinary" circumstances, but was rebuffed time and again, he told ABC News in a telephone interview from prison last week.

In a letter to Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska dated Feb. 20 and obtained by ABC News a regional director from the Department of Justice wrote that "although Mr. Yaeger believes his daughter's severe medical condition constitutes 'extraordinary justification,' a review of his case reveals this specific request was & reviewed & and denied & because his circumstances were not deemed to rise to the level of extraordinary."

The congressman had requested information about the denials of the furlough or transfer.

Last week, after ABCNEWS.com published a story on Jayci, the Bureau of Prisons released a statement saying that officials there "have reviewed inmate Yaeger's request for a compassionate release and have determined his situation does not meet the criteria."

Jayci, named for her father's initials, had been fighting for her life since she was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 3, seven years ago. But in the last six months, she had taken a severe turn downward.

Doctors declared her condition terminal in October. Last month, they found they couldn't transfer her to a children's hospital closer to her Lincoln, Neb., home because they said she wouldn't survive the trip, Lori Yaeger said.

Jason Charles Yaeger had been allowed three brief supervised visits since the terminal diagnosis in the fall and the visits had prompted remarkable, if short-lived revivals in Jayci's condition, she added.

The fourth visit was earlier this week.

"When he came home in February, Jayci was not expected to live through the night," Lori Yaeger said. "She improved throughout that whole week. Jason was allowed to accompany her to get a [CT] scan. He was able to pick her up and put her on the [examining] table,'' she said, growing emotional.

"And this little girl who could barely lift an arm wrapped her arms around him and held on."

ABC News Omaha, Nebraska affiliate KETV and reporter Andrew Ozaki contributed to this report.