Former flight attendant granted final wish to fly one last time amid terminal cancer battle

A elderly California woman battling terminal cancer was on cloud nine when she was granted one final wish to soar the skies – more than 50 years after landing her dream job as a flight attendant. 

Janet McAnnally, 79, recently stopped all treatments for her stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis, opting instead to enjoy the time she has left, which included getting back into the sky through a Last Wish Program offered by her hospice care, KOVR-TV reported.

The center reached out to United Airlines pilot Rob Davis who took McAnnally on a stunning hour-long flight through Calaveras County in California, even allowing her to pilot the plane for the first time.

Janet McAnnally flying a plane during her hour-long wish-fulfilled flight around California. CBS News 13

“I think I was more excited than emotional about it until when it was done and I realized what we had just done,” McAnnally said.

“It had rained earlier and so the land just looked beautiful. All the sudden, the moon began to come up and that got me, I think I got a little emotional.”

Diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, her final wish was to fly again. CBS News 13

As a young girl, McAnnally always dreamed of traveling the world, eventually becoming a flight attendant for Trans World Airlines when she was 26-years-old in 1971, the outlet reported.

McAnnally became a flight attendant for Trans World Airlines when she was 26-years-old in 1971. CBS News 13

While her career only lasted seven years, she never forgot her first love. 

“I opened the cover of my fourth grade geography book, and there was a black and white picture of the Sphinx and the pyramids,” she told the outlet.

Her hospice center fulfilled her wish through a Last Wish Program. CBS News 13

“I thought, ‘I want to see the world.’ That became my obsession.”

McAnnally’s cancer recently spread to her spine, leading her to cease all treatments.

Now she only receives pain management and other services from Hospice of Amador and Calaveras in the comfort of her home, the outlet reported.

The jetsetter said she was given a whole new outlook on life when she chose to stop fighting her illness, opting instead to appreciate ever moment she had left. 

McAnnally’s cancer recently spread to her spine, leading her to cease all treatments, only receiving pain management and other services in the comfort of her home. CBS News 13

“I’ve had a lovely life,” McAnnally said.

“There’s no point, even if it’s only a month or two left, to sit around and do nothing or to just moan and cry over it. Better to cry happy tears and enjoy as much as you can.”