遺愿實現隊

by Vibeke Venema Joyce 譯

遺愿實現隊

The People Who Make Last Wishes Come True

by Vibeke Venema Joyce 譯

“救護車許愿基金會”是荷蘭一家慈善機構，旨在幫助那些病入膏肓，只能通過救護車行動的病人實現最后的心愿。這些年來，他們已經幫助人們實現了大大小小近7000個心愿，讓許多人無憾地離世。比如說，帶病人去看最后一次海，去與飼養多年的馬兒道別，到餐廳吃一次魚排，去博物館看展覽，重返自己的故鄉……如此暖心的組織背后都是一些醫護人員和司機組成的志愿者，是他們讓這么多臨終病人的心愿得以實現，讓我們走進他們的故事！

I’ve learned that people who are going to die have little wishes,” says Kees Veldboer, the ambulance driver who founded the Stichting Ambulance Wens, or Ambulance Wish Foundation.

In November 2006 he was moving a terminally ill patient, Mario Stefanutto, from one hospital to another. But just after they put him on the1)stretcher, they were told there would be a delay—the receiving hospital wasn’t ready. Stefanutto had no desire to get back in the bed where he had spent the past three months, so Veldboer asked if there was anywhere he would like to go.

The retired seaman asked if they could take him to the Vlaardingen2)canal, so he could be by the water and say a fnal goodbye to3)Rotterdam harbour. It was a sunny day, and they stayed on the4)dockside for nearly an hour. “Tears of joy ran over his face,” says Veldboer. “When I asked him: ‘Would you like to have the opportunity to sail again?’ he said it would be impossible because he lay on a stretcher.”

Veldboer was determined to make this man’s last wish come true. He asked his boss if he could borrow an ambulance on his day off, recruited the help of a colleague and contacted a frm that does boat tours around Rotterdam harbour—they were all happy to help, and the following Friday, to Stefanutto’s astonishment, the ambulance driver turned up at his hospital bedside to take him sailing.

“我了解到將死之人的心里都有一些小小的心愿。”凱斯·韋德波爾說，他就是那個成立了“救護車許愿基金會”的救護車司機。

2006年11月，他當時正準備把一位重病晚期病人馬里奧·斯特法努托轉移到另一間醫院。但正當他們把病人抬到擔架上時，他們被告知轉移工作將會延遲——接收醫院還沒準備好。斯特法努托不想再回到病床上，他之前已經在那里躺了三個月，所以韋德波爾問他有沒有什么想去的地方。

這位退休的水手問他們可否帶他去符拉爾丁根運河，這樣他就能在岸邊與鹿特丹海港作最后的道別。那是個陽光明媚的日子，他們在碼頭邊上待了將近一個小時。“欣慰的淚水劃過他的臉龐。”韋德波爾說道。“我問他：‘你希望有機會再次航海嗎？’他說那是不可能的，因為他躺在擔架上。”

韋德波爾決心要幫助這個男人實現最后的愿望。于是他問上司，他可否在放假時借用一輛救護車，請來一位同事幫忙，并聯系一家提供游覽鹿特丹海港服務的游船公司——他們都很樂意提供幫助。