Brighten Your Day

Medical Volunteers Help Terminally Ill Patients Visit Their Favorite Destinations One Last Time

March 5, 2015

A Dutch organization called "Ambulance Wens" (Ambulance Wish) fulfills the last wishes of terminally ill patients free of charge thanks to its 200 medical volunteers.

The company says, "There are still too many patients who die without getting to close everything. One of those reasons is the inability to achieve certain desires because the patient is no longer mobile and other existing facilities are inadequate for this purpose."

Special ambulances and stretchers help transport the patients safely and comfortably. Typical excursions include a visit to the beach, a visit to a neighbor who is also no longer mobile, and various places where the patient has special memories.

This woman's final wish was to visit the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Twitter / Ambulance Wens

Another woman enjoys the view from her favorite vacation destination in Tuscany.

Twitter / Ambulance Wens

This gentleman asked for one last view from the Euromast observation tower.

Twitter / Ambulance Wens

And this man asked to see the mills in Kinderdijk one last time.

Twitter / Ambulance Wens

Amsterdam is not the only place doing such wonderful things. A hospice outside Seattle made an old forest ranger's dying wish come true.

"Ed expressed one last hope to the hospice chaplain: He wanted to commune with nature one more time."

Facebook / Evergreen Hospice

As the hospice wrote on its Facebook page, "People sometimes think that working in hospice care is depressing. This story ... demonstrates the depths of the rewards that caring for the dying can bring."