Heartbroken family of a desperately ill pensioner say their last goodbyes after Dutch fire crews lift them up to the fourth-floor window of his locked-down care home
- Family is helped by local fire department to say their last goodbyes to ill relative
- Relatives of Henry Nijhove, 87, of Holland, used extendable ladder to reach him
- Care homes have stopped accepting visitors amid the coronavirus lockdown
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
A family had to use a ladder to say their last goodbyes to their ill elderly relative after his care home was locked down.
The family of Henry Nijhove, 87, was lifted up to the forth-floor window of his care home near Amsterdam, Holland, using an extendable ladder with the help of the local fire department.
The family was told that Mr Nijhove was unlikely to live much longer after his health took a turn for the worse.
The fire crew turned up at the Anton de Komplein residential care home in Amsterdam with a ladder and arranged for family members to be lifted up in pairs so they could say their farewells
Carehomes have stopped accepting visitors to prevent the risk of coronavirus being bought in by someone from outside.
Mr Nijhove’s granddaughter wrote to the local fire brigade, who agreed to help.
She told them she wanted to make sure that her grandfather did not pass away without the chance to say goodbye. It is understood that his illness is not coronavirus.
The fire crew turned up at the Anton de Komplein residential care home in Amsterdam with a ladder and arranged for family members to be lifted up in pairs so they could say their farewells.
The family of Henry Nijhove, 87, was lifted up to the forth-floor window of his care home near Amsterdam, Holland, using an extendable ladder with the help of the local fire department
Henry’s daughter Mildred also thanked the fire crews for what they did, and said they wanted to show Henry that everybody in the family loved him and was there for him
The ill man’s granddaughter, Chante, said afterwards: ‘I have no words to express how grateful I am that this was even possible, and that we were allowed to do this. It’s like I said, we are a really close family, and my grandfather is really everything to us.’
She added the emotional meeting through the window ensured that he had a good day, and later she wrote on Facebook that she was ‘more than grateful. I don’t have any other words.’
She said the family had not been able to see him since 19th March and were confronted with the possibility that they might never see him again before he died, which made her determined to ‘come up with something to be able to visit him ‘physically’ one more time’.
She added: ‘I decided to be a bit naughty, and contacted the fire brigade. I didn’t write any fancy letters, I just called them and told them the story.’
And she said she was rewarded with an affirmative, quoting her grandmother who she said always told her ‘those who do good get good’.
Henry’s daughter Mildred also thanked the fire crews for what they did, and said they wanted to show Henry that everybody in the family loved him and was there for him, and added: ‘This was pretty much the only way he could see his grandchildren again.’
Mr Nijhove’s granddaughter wrote to the local fire brigade, who agreed to help. She told them she wanted to make sure that her grandfather did not pass away without the chance to say goodbye