Granting a Dying Wish....heartwarming!

KingstonsMom · ‎03-09-2010

One of the Queensland paramedics who granted an elderly patient her dying wish to visit the beach one last time has broken down while recalling the heart-wrenching experience.

Graeme Cooper was pictured standing beside a palliative care patient as she took in her final breaths of ocean air from a hospital bed overlooking the water at Hervey Bay, a coastal city in Queensland.

The incredible photo was captured shortly before the woman passed away in the ambulance on the way to hospital, and went viral when it was to Queensland Ambulance Service's Facebook account.

He fought back tears explaining how he'd collected some ocean water and allowed the patient to swirl her fingers through and taste its saltiness for the final time.

'She said it was just so beautiful and she closed her eyes for a minute, and her heart rate just accelerated, I could see it palpating in her chest,' he said.

'She opened her eyes again and I asked how she was and she said 'it's time for me to go' and we loaded her back in the vehicle.'

Mr Cooper, who has been with QAS for 27 years, said he was overwhelmed by the public's response to the touching gesture.

'I can't explain what and why we do it, but we do. To spend time with somebody that you don't know, I had never met this lady before in my life, but it's like she was my family,' he told Nine News.

Graeme Cooper stood with a dying palliative care patient after taking her to the beach, while still in her hospital bed, to fulfil her dying wish

Video & more here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5115819/Paramedic-fights-tears-patients-final-beach-moments....

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

ScarletDove · ‎07-11-2010

There are no words, just admiration and tears!

jubilant · ‎06-10-2010

What a special man and what a special thing he did. Thank God for people like this. Several weeks ago I had open heart surgery. I got really sick after the surgery. I was in the hospital for 15 days. One night (or I should say in the wee hours of the morning) when I was alone, I felt a hand slip into mine and there was my nurse just standing there holding my hand. She didn't say a word. She didn't have to. She did that yet another time before morning broke. I can't tell you how much it meant to me and what a comfort it was. She had 4 patients and yet took the time to stop for a few minutes and be just what I needed in those moments. She was my "angel" that night.