Ambulance Grants Wish of Terminally Ill Patients [Video]

• The Ambulance Wish Foundation fulfills the wish of terminally ill patients.
• To date, the foundation has granted the wishes of 6,000 terminally sick people.
• The foundation has 230 volunteers who are medically trained.

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Kees Veldboer had several significant experiences with the patients he transported while working as an ambulance driver in the Netherlands.

However, nothing was as life-changing as that day in 2006 when he drove a terminally ill man from one hospital to another. Because the man had been in a hospital bed for three months, Kees offered to take a detour if there was anywhere the man would want to stop by for a few minutes. 

The man, who had spent years sailing, chose to visit the canal in Vlaardingen. The request seemed simple enough for Kees, but it turned out to mean a lot more to the man than Kees had imagined.

“We stayed there for an hour on a beautiful sunny day, and tears of joy ran over his face due to this experience,” said Kees.  

Kees’ life was changed when he realized how much the visit meant to this man. He vowed at the time that he’d find a way for the man to sail one last time. The man appreciated Kees’ gesture but didn’t think it would be possible.

Kees, on the other hand, was determined. He took the patient on a stretcher to the Rotterdam harbor with the help of a tour boat company and his supervisor.

After fulfilling the man’s wish, Kees decided to start an organization called Ambulance Wish Foundation that gave terminally ill immobile patients the opportunity to have a last wish fulfilled for free. The foundation has 230 medically trained volunteers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx7BC3Cu4ZY

Many of the patients’ wishes take place throughout the Netherlands, but the volunteers are more than happy to do what they can for the patients whose wishes involve going to other countries.

Many of the wishes received by the foundation are quite simple, like seeing the ocean again, enjoying an ice cream cone, and even seeing their homes one last time. 

“The Ambulance Wish Foundation shows that people who are terminally ill and bed-ridden can have joy, even if they are sometimes so ill that they pass away on the same day or as in many cases a few days later,” said Kees.

This remarkable foundation has already made a difference in the lives of over 6,000 terminally sick people. Even though the founder, Kees, died unexpectedly in July 2021 of cardiac arrest, the selfless job he started is far from over.

“The planned wishes will, as far as possible, be carried out in the agreed manner in accordance with Kees’s wishes,” the foundation’s website says.

Source: Inspire More