Last Wish
Jim Barnes watches his family and friends preform karaoke at his benefit to raise money for funeral costs while people gather around him in support. © Lauren Elizabeth Media
Barnes gives his daughter Amber Gould a thumb up while she preforms a song at his benefit on Nov. 8. © Lauren Elizabeth Media
Jim Barnes hugs his daughter goodbye. © Lauren Elizabeth Media
Jim Barnes watches his family and friends preform karaoke at his benefit to raise money for funeral costs while people gather around him in support. © Lauren Elizabeth Media
Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Jim R. Barnes has blessed people from the beginning with his smile and optimism with whatever comes his way according to his daughter Amber Gould. After resigning as a bartender at the West End Tavern in Athens, Ohio, Barnes discovered in August that he had stage-four lung cancer after smoking for 40 years.
As time progressed, Barnes also developed bone cancer along with leukemia. Doctors at James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, advised Barnes that the chemotherapy he was receiving was not helping and that he should go home and enjoy life.
Barnes had one last wish — to meet his five grandchildren from Alaska along with his daughter-in-law for the first time. Barnes’ son, Eric Maffin, moved to Alaska in 1999 for a job opportunity and since then has been back once in 2009. Family and friends have united to help better Barnes’ life and to make his last wish come true.
“He has kept a positive attitude throughout. He always has a smile on his face,” said Gould.