Handmade mudboat raffle to benefit Children’s Hospital of New Orleans

Ledet’s labor of love has already raised more than $28,000; drawing still two months away

Sometimes in life, out of great tragedy comes great triumph.

That’s the story of Ray “Rooster” Ledet, his 20-year-old daughter Rae and the 15-foot mudboat he painstakingly handcrafted earlier this year to raffle off to benefit Children’s Hospital of New Orleans.

Ledet, a 63-year-old tugboat captain from Galliano, vividly remembers the events of the night of March 16, 2011. He was 100 miles from land south of the mouth of the Atchafalaya River piloting a tug when he got a phone call about 10:30 that night.

“They wouldn’t tell me what was wrong,” he said in a thick Cajun accent. “They were stuttering.”

Ultimately he was informed that his wife Karen had been killed instantly earlier that evening in an accident with an 18-wheeler in Cut Off, just 5 miles from their family home.

And his then 15-year-old daughter, Rae, had been airlifted to University Hospital in New Orleans with serious head injuries.

“Everything took off in a spin,” Ledet said. “So I’m 120 miles from Fourchon by then. I almost could have walked off the boat — I could have just took off walking.

“Your brain just disconnects.”

In the long weeks following the accident, Rae was eventually transferred to Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, where she slowly but steadily made progress.

Eventually she was released from the hospital, but initially had to return several times a week for treatment. Gradually she was seen a couple of times a month, then once a month, and finally her doctor visits became less and less frequent.

Now 20, Rae is an up and coming junior at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, and although she still visits the hospital for eye checkups, Ledet is thankful his daughter’s life was spared.

“They took care of my little girl, and I saw that a lot of people needed some help, just like they helped us,” he said. “Somebody had to pay before me to help me with those hospital bills, because I had insurance. If somebody in front of me gave to charity and it benefitted my kid, now I’m doing this to benefit someone else down the line, because they never stop coming.”

That’s where Ledet’s handcrafted 15-foot mudboat comes in — it’s being raffled off on Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. at the French Food Festival in Larose, with all proceeds going to Children’s Hospital of New Orleans.

At $10 per ticket, the little boat built by the man with a big heart has already raised a whopping $28,000 — with more than two months still to go until the drawing.

“I originally thought maybe we’d make just a little pocket change,” Ledet said with a chuckle. “But there is no goal. I’ll tell you straight like this — whatever we make, that’s our goal.”

Ledet said when word spread about his plan to build a boat — which he constructed out of marine plywood, cypress and stainless steel and brass screws— the community instantly started pitching in to help.

“Everybody started hearing it down the line, and it just took off from there,” he said. “One guy says, ‘I’ll get you the shaft and rudder,’ and another podnuh says, ‘I’m going to buy the propellor’ and Dickie Guidry with Crosby Tugs tells me, ‘We’ll buy the engine.’

“I started this idea by my lonesome, and the people heard and they came to me.”

The 40-inch wide, 14-inch high boat is powered by a 23 hp Vanguard engine, and comes complete with a trailer that puts the entire package valued at $13,500.

Ledet, who travels with the the boat on weekends to festivals and fishing rodeos to sell tickets, was adamant that tickets would be only $10. To purchase a ticket online, click here.

“If you make it too high, the poor man can’t buy a ticket,” he said. “It’s easier to put $10 out than $25 or $50 on a chance. So I made it $10 where a poor guy can maybe have a chance to give his little boy a boat that maybe could never afford a boat, if he gets lucky.”

Rae, who was chosen as the philanthropy chairperson for Phi Mu at Nicholls in December, has headed up some impressive fundraising efforts herself. In April, her sorority raised $30,000 that also will benefit Children’s Hospital, in addition to whatever her dad’s boat raises.

“It’s so crazy because this is something he literally just dreamed of, and all of a sudden he just made it possible, and I admire that so much from him,” she said. “He’s so dedicated. If it wouldn’t be for him taking his time off to go out there and stand in the sun and sell tickets … He’s not going to talk about that, but honestly he’s pulling some 12-hour days.

“It’s something that takes a lot of work that you don’t really notice because you know what you’re doing it for. But if it wouldn’t be for him going out like he does, it would not be this successful right now. Our finish number would not be possible if he wasn’t doing it so diligently.”

With her own personal experiences at the hospital, working with her dad and her sorority to give something back is very special, she said.

“I love the feeling,” she said. “I’m still a patient at Children’s, and just going there knowing everything we’re doing to help them — it’s amazing.”

Ledet can’t really explain how he was guided to build the boat, but said the real heroes are the people buying the raffle tickets.

“I don’t know where it came from,” he said. “Some people say God did that, like with Noah’s ark. ‘He knew you had a talent, so he made you make a boat.’”

About Patrick Bonin 1315 Articles
Patrick Bonin is the former editor of Louisiana Sportsman magazine and LouisianaSportsman.com.