For some terminally ill patients, the end of life doesn’t mean sitting amid four walls listening to the whirring of machines.
This period is about fulfilling their wildest dreams, azfamily.com reports.
After seeing time and again how the patients she tends to at an Arizona hospice are often overlooked, Kimberly Iverson decided to find a way to make their final wishes come true. Her vision eventually gave way to the founding of the Bucket List Foundation, a nonprofit that gives sick seniors the chance of a lifetime.
“There's not a whole lot out there for them, in the way of something to look forward to and hope,” Iverson told ktar.com.
One recent exuberant wish recipient was Wil Englund, an 83-year-old who always dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot, but whose color blindness and poor eyesight kept him from pursuing his dream, ktar.com reports.
The organization brought Englund to the 162nd Fighter Wing in Tucson, Ariz., where he was able to experience a simulation of flight. He also hit the tarmac to watch the F-16s fly.
“It was fantastic,” Englund told azfamily.com. “That's the only word I can think of. Because I’ve always wanted to be a pilot since I was 7 years old.”
Feeling inspired? Learn how you can get involved with the Bucket List Foundation here.