"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable."
~ Sydney J. Harris
It was a waste of breath to tell Kees Veldboer it can’t be done. One day on his rounds as an ambulance driver in the Netherlands, he was called to transport a terminally ill former sailor named Mario. With some extra time to chat with his patient, Kees learned that Mario dreamed of sailing on a ship one more time before he died, but believed it to be impossible given his condition. So Kees made it his mission to fulfill his wish, and fulfill it he did. Just two days later, Mario was sailing again, hospital gurney and all. This small act of kindness bestowed by a stranger upon a dying man would forever change both men. A few months later Mario passed away. The only thing Mario asked to be read at his funeral were his own words about the kindness of a man named Kees.
And so Stichting Ambulance Wens was born to grant people like Mario their one last wish before dying. Kees and his army of volunteers have fulfilled the last wishes of tens of thousands of terminally ill people all over Europe.
One such patient was an elderly woman named Mrs Klein-Straver. She was born and raised on a boat in the Netherlands, and like Mario simply wanted to sail around the port of Rotterdam one last time. In Fall 2018, I accompanied the Ambulance Wens team on their mission to grant Mrs Klein-Straver’s last wish.
Kees tragically passed away very unexpectedly in the summer of 2021. The life affirming mission of Stichting Ambulance Wens now continues on in the capable hands of his son, Kees Veldboer Jr.
Kees with his specially designed fleet of ambulances.
Many of the people who volunteer for The Wish Ambulance come from law enforcement. This gentleman is a retired police officer.
Every marker is a wish that was granted.
On this day, multiple teams from The Wish Ambulance will fulfill several wishes all over the Netherlands. But not before coffee.
The team collects Mrs Klein-Straver.
Her daughter shows me a photograph of the boat her mother was born and raised on.
Kees and his team make considerable efforts to maximize the comfort of their patients. From retrofitting the ambulance itself with windows so patients can see better, to choosing soft, household style bedding instead of institutional hospital bedding, no details are skipped. The comfort of the patient is everything.