"I told him that if he sticks with it, and he really wants to do this, I want him to come to Mote, be an intern, go off to college and continue to do research, come back and start working at Mote, and eventually he can become Mote’s President & CEO."

Catching a tarpon changed an 8-year-old Florida boy’s life, his mother said.

After catching a juvenile tarpon on the Gulf of Mexico, Hampton Boney of Placida, Florida rushed home and began to write his proud experience. He drew pictures of the tarpon and showed his mother.

Struck by the innocence and detail the young boy put into his story, she suggested they try to get it published. A Sarasota book publisher loved the idea and challenged Hampton to write 20 illustrated pages to create a coloring book.

His mother, Anna Boney, said if he sold all of his books, titled, “500-Pound Tarpon,” he could publish a second, called, “105-Pound Trout.”

Read more at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune