BROOKHAVEN — A young man faced with terminal cancer was able to kill his first buck Sunday. Game wardens with Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and real estate agents from Whitetail Properties made one of Ashton Kemp’s final wishes come true.

Kemp, 15, was diagnosed with stage 4 genetic metastatic melanoma when he was 13. He went through radiation, chemo and other medications. The family reports the cancer is terminal. A recent scan revealed Kemp had a few days left to live and a week if he was lucky. The young man is from Independence, Louisiana

His Sunday started by being sworn in as a game warden to fulfill one of his last wishes. Kemp was given a game warden’s hat, jacket, badge and an arrowhead. MDWFP game wardens and Lincoln County Sheriff Deputies escorted Kemp to a hunt at a deer enclosure near Caseyville. 

Kemp was able to kill his first buck when he pulled the trigger on an Axis deer Sunday afternoon. MDWFP Lt. Sheila Smith said Allen Morgan Taxidermy in Brookhaven will mount the deer for free to help the family during this time.