One more time to the beach or your favorite museum. Or watch your grandchild get married. Just a selection of the last wishes that the Wish Ambulance fulfills. Today, volunteers Margot and Onno helped 70-year-old Anjo, who is celebrating her wedding anniversary for the last time.
“It’s windy, so we’ll wrap you up well.” Nurse Margot Horning pulls the blanket up to the chin of Anjo, a 70-year-old woman lying on a stretcher in her nursing home. “And of course we don’t want you to look too sexy – it’s your wedding anniversary, isn’t it?” she says with a wink. “Your husband sees you coming.”
Anniversary
Her daughter Michelle has made up Anjo. On her blouse is a brooch with a flower. It is therefore a holiday: today she has been married for 25 years. It is the last time she can celebrate her wedding anniversary before she dies soon.
Her husband Dennis has been on stage as a singer for decades. Anjo assisted him as his permanent sound woman. She points to a bookshelf on the wall of the room. There is a CD with four songs. “He wrote them all for me,” says Anjo. Her favorite song is also on it: I love you.
Poked and mazed
Margot and today’s driver, Onno Mittelmeijer, went through the course of the day and all possible risks before the ride. They do the work at the Wish Ambulance voluntarily, but they are both tried and tested in care.
“And all our volunteers also go through the necessary training,” says Margot. She has been driving the Wensambulance for more than ten years. “You can help people with their last wish,” explains the 62-year-old from Amstelveen. “That’s what makes it so nice. That people are happy that you’re here.”
Half an hour later, Anjo is wheeled into community center De Aker to loud applause. Dennis has already warmed up all the friends and family of the couple with mainly Caribbean dance records. But when he has kissed his wife and received the card she wrote for him, he puts his self-written I love you In. Softly Anjo sings along through her tears. “I love you / You are my beautiful, sweet wife.”
Onno and Margot watch from a distance. On other rides they sometimes have to help, but today is a relaxed day. “It’s easier than I thought,” says Margot cheerfully. “It is always a matter of seeing how someone is under it. Only when you see someone can you estimate what to take into account.”
Yet she already knows that she will be well worn out at the end of the day. “You completely set yourself up to help someone all day long, so you’re reading all the time whether someone is tired, whether someone can persevere. So yes, I’m always pretty tired afterwards.” She laughs. “But that’s okay.”
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