Richard Doutt has been planting his prized tomato seeds for 10 years. This year, not even a hospital stay was going to stop him from sampling his plants' fruit, his wife, Esther Doutt, said.

A woman gave Richard Doutt Sr. his prized tomato seeds 10 years ago, and he still plants them every year, collecting new seeds from each crop.

This year, however, Doutt was in the hospital when his plants started bearing fruit. His wife, Esther Doutt, said the first thing her husband asked about after three extensive surgeries was his tomatoes.

“The first thing he said was “How's my tomatoes?” she said.

Richard Doutt of Butler planted this year's plants in May. Then in June, doctors found a tumor in his body and then an infection related to the tumor. “I didn't think he would make it, to tell you the truth,” Esther Doutt said.But Richard Doutt pulled through, maybe only just to taste his fruits again.The couple give seeds to people “all the time,” Esther Doutt said. Richard Doutt dries the seeds to plant them again.Esther Doutt said she'd be fulfilling her husband's hungry wishes for a tomato soon.“I've got one in the car that I'm going to take down to him right now,” she said.

Richard Doutt has grown these tomatoes for the last 10 years. He collects and dries seeds from each year's crop, then plants them again the following spring.