A very emotional moment between a man and a giraffe took place at a zoo in Netherlands that left everyone in tears.
54-year-old Mario has brain cancer and doesn’t have long to live. For his last birthday, Mario’s wish was to visit his special friends at the Rotterdam Zoo (Diergaarde Blijdorp), where he worked for half his life.
The Ambulance Wish Foundation helped arrange a special visit for Mario and while there, many shy animals came out to greet him. Mario’s co-workers said Mario was “always there” for the animals.
Then, something very beautiful took place when he went to say goodbye to the giraffes he loved so much. As Mario is now mostly paralyzed, his hospital bed was wheeled into the giraffe habitat. The animals seemed to sense this was a last goodbye. One of the giraffes came over to him and gave him a big kiss. So, while Mario wanted to say “goodbye”, his friends wanted to say, “thank you”.
“It was a very special moment. You could see him totally light up,” Kees Veldboer, founder and director of the The Ambulance Wish Foundation, said of Mario. “It’s very special to see that those animals recognize him, and sense that he isn’t doing well.”
“It was very beautiful to be able to help this man fulfill his dying wish” Veldboer added. The touching scene gave everyone goosebumps and will by remembered by all who witnessed it.
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