For Jerald Aucoin, the water has always been home. After high school, Aucoin worked on tugboats and became a member of the St. Charles Volunteer Fire Department. He worked on fireboats and other emergency services. He loved to fish.
But a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 1998 changed everything.
“I thought it was a death sentence,” Aucoin said. “I’ve never heard of anybody living with cancer as long as I have.”
Aucoin went into remission, but he was then diagnosed with a second cancer: T-cell lymphoma. He received a stem cell transplant in 2013, underwent a leg amputation in 2014, and learned he had a third cancer: squamous cell cancer. Aucoin was forced to take medical leave.
He endured several cancer treatments, including full body radiation and chemotherapy. He is now receiving transfusions to slow the cancer down.
“I have quite an extensive history and every new doctor that I get, they look at everything I’ve been through, and they look at me, and then they look back the chart,” Aucoin said. “They can’t believe it.”
Throughout his cancer journey, Aucoin dreamed of one day returning to the water.
“I used to have my boat, and I used to go to the spillway all the time and fish,” Aucoin said. “But you know, once I started getting worse and worse, I got rid of rid of the boat.”
‘I figured it out’
When Aucoin began infusion treatments at St. Charles Parish Hospital, he met nurse Robin Wells, a St. Charles Parish native who loves to fish and is a member of an all-woman’s fishing group.
After earning her nursing license in 2008, Wells worked in an ICU in Cincinnati, Ohio. She moved back to the parish just before Hurricane Ida in 2021 and began her work at the infusion center.
“I’d have to say this is one of the hardest nursing jobs I’ve had,” Wells said. “I get to know my patients, and there’s happy stories and there’s not so happy stories. We laugh, we cry. Emotionally, it’s hard.”
But Wells said she loves what she does.
“I enjoy getting to know my patients and their families,” she said. “Sometimes my patients are here for an hour and sometimes they are here all day.”
Being on the water, helps her find inner peace, she said.
“My favorite is to be on the water, on my kayak before sunrise, watching that sun come up,” Wells said. “And it’s just my time to kind of de-stress. It just kind of frees you.”
Aucoin and Wells, who see each other about every six weeks, always talk about fishing.
“He would always ask me, ‘have you been fishing? Let me see your pictures,’” Wells said.
Wells would show Aucoin the fish she caught on recent fishing trips to the marsh on her kayak, and Aucoin would tell Wells how much he missed the water.
“He kept saying, I wish I could go just one more time on a boat,” Wells said. “I just can’t figure out how to do it.”
One day last year, Aucoin came in for his appointment and Wells told him: I figured it out.
Wells enlisted the help of a local guide and owners of a marina. They secured a pontoon boat with a modified back that allowed for Aucoin’s wheelchair to be rolled directly on board.
After several cancellations due to heat and unpredictable weather, the stars finally aligned on a Friday in December: Aucoin would finally be back on the water.
But Aucoin had a surprise of his own. Determined to meet the water on his own terms, he arrived wearing his prosthetic leg – a feat he usually struggles with because of the recurring cancer.
“I was shocked,” Wells said. “He was determined.”
Wells and Aucoin caught so many redfish, black drum and trout they eventually lost count.
“I’ve never been fishing like that, ever,” Aucoin said. “As soon as I would cast out, I’d have a bite.”
For Wells, seeing the smile on Aucoin’s face made it all worthwhile.
“He doesn’t give up,” Wells said of Aucoin. “It doesn’t matter what his obstacles are, he finds a way. He’s always happy, always has a smile.”
An ‘earthly angel’
The bond between the nurse and her patient has left a lasting impression on Aucoin’s family. Aucoin’s wife describes Wells as an “earthly angel” who goes above and beyond for those in her care.
For Aucoin, Wells is someone who always takes that extra step.
“I didn’t realize how much I was saying I wanted to go fishing, but she was listening,” he said.
