A Hervey Bay woman at the end of her life fulfilled her wish of seeing the ocean one last time, tasting the salt on her lips and running her hand through the cool water thanks to her paramedics.
The palliative care patient was on her way home in an ambulance from a hospital visit when she told paramedic Graeme Cooper how she had moved to the area with her husband years ago.
This story told to us by Helen Donaldson the Officer in charge of Hervey Bay is too good not to share. A crew were...Posted by Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) on Wednesday, 22 November 2017
"She loved the Esplanade and the beach and we just said if you want we can take you down by the Esplanade and pop you out of the truck and give you a look at the ocean," Mr Cooper said.
"She was just ecstatic with that and so we thought, yeah, no dramas."
Mr Cooper said he rolled the patient out and picked a "good spot" where she could see the pier, out to Fraser Island and up to Point Vernon.
"She was ecstatic with it all and she said...she is content now, everything is just as it should be," he said.
"I thought if all these rocks weren't here I would have got down into my jocks and taken you into the ocean and I would have.
"I thought the next best thing was to get some ocean and bring it to her."
Mr Cooper said he used a bag to scoop up some of the ocean water, which he brought up to the woman.
"She felt the ocean and tasted the salt water," he said.
"I can't describe the feeling when your in these situations with people, it is always someone else's mother, father, brother.
"When she put her hand in the water, I could just see her chest and I could see her heart rate accelerate.
"She turned around and was looking out and eventually she closed her eyes and her hand stopped moving."
The patient told them she was at peace, that everything was "right".
Paramedic Danielle Kellam captured the moment and posted it to Facebook, where it has been shared more than 2000 times.
"I know paramedics do this, this is just the first time it was captured," Mr Cooper said.
"It wasn't intended for exposure, it was just a moment she (Danielle) saw???.I said ???Oh, you got my bald spot!'."
