Kees Veldboer (62) of the Ambulance Wish Foundation passed away: ‘He created National Heritage’ | Inland

The foundation tries to encourage people who do not have long to live by making their last wish come true. Veldboer started it after a career as an ambulance driver. Since 2007, 16,000 last wishes have been fulfilled, the foundation has become world news and the initiative has led to similar projects in countless countries.

“Often these are seemingly small requests, but that is precisely where the greatness lies,” writes palliative care specialist Sander de Hosson of the Wilhelmina Hospital Assen on the MeerOverMedisch website.

To the forest

‘Can I go to the woods for a while?’, a patient of De Hosson had once asked. This gentleman still had a few weeks to live, was given oxygen and had to use a morphine pump. Impossible, De Hosson thought.

The foundation provided a solution. Lying on a stretcher, the man and his wife were driven through the woods, exactly the way the two used to walk. It was ‘magical’, the woman told De Hosson. “He always wants to hold my hand, he hasn’t done that in years. Not so, not so firm.”

“It is absolutely clear to me and I do not make any reservations: this is the heart of care,” concludes the doctor in his column. “As far as I’m concerned, the wish ambulance is heroism and can be added directly to our National Heritage.”

Worldwide

Other doctors also say on social media that they are sad about Veldboer’s death. Many praise his work.

The Ambulance Wish Foundation is now being followed in countless countries, from Israel to Australia, and from England to Ecuador. The BBC declared Veldboer one of the most inspiring people in the world in 2015.

His story was covered in French, British and American media. “It’s not just about the patient, but we also help families and friends with a beautiful memory,” Veldboer once told the New York Post.

The organization with 270 medical volunteers will continue. “The planned wishes will be carried out as far as possible in the agreed manner in accordance with Kees’s wishes,” the board said.

Our condolences go out to his wife Ineke Veldboer, his children, grandchildren and other relatives.

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