This is the touching moment a giraffe bid a sad farewell to a dying worker who had spent his entire adult life cleaning the animal's enclosure at a Dutch zoo. The 54-year-old maintenance worker, who has terminal cancer, asked that his hospital bed be wheeled into the giraffe enclosure at Rotterdam’s Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo. In a heartbreaking scene, one of the giraffes then approached the man, known only as Mario, and gave him a tender kiss goodbye. Scroll down for video . Heartbreaking: The touching moment a giraffe said goodbye to a terminally ill worker at a Dutch zoo . Special bond: The giraffe approached the man's hospital bed, and appeared to give the 54-year-old a kiss goodbye . ‘These animals recognised him, and felt that (things aren’t) going well with him,’ Kees Veldboer, founder of the Ambulance Wish Foundation - which transported Mario to the zoo - told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. ‘(It was) a very special moment. You saw him beaming.’ Mario, who's mentally disabled, then asked for a moment to say goodbye to his colleagues at the zoo, where he spent the vast majority of his adult life. Last goodbyes: Mario, who is mentally disabled, then asked for a moment to say goodbye to his colleagues at the zoo, where he spent the vast majority of his adult life . Touching: Last year the charity took a terminally-ill 86-year-old man back to his farm in Oss, Holland, to say goodbye to his ponies . ‘It was very nice that we were able to work on the last wish of this man,' Mr Veldboer said. The Ambulance Wish Foundation is a charity whose volunteers specialise in taking non-mobile terminally ill patients fulfill their dying wishes. The organization was founded in 2007 by Veldboer, who also drives the company's fleet of ambulances to take patients wherever they wish to go. The ambulances are specifically designed with long windows so patients could watch the world go by while they were being transported. Last year the charity took a terminally-ill 86-year-old man back to his farm in Oss, Holland, to say goodbye to his ponies.
The 54-year-old, known only as Mario, is suffering from a terminal cancer that has left him with weeks to live .
He spent most of his life working at Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo in Rotterdam, Holland, cleaning out the giraffes' enclosure .
He asked that hospital bed be wheeled into the giraffe enclosure so he could say goodbye to the animals he knew .
In heartbreakingly-touching scene, one giraffe approached Mario, in his portable hospital bed, and gave him a kiss .
His dying wish was granted by the Ambulance Wish Foundation charity that grants dying wishes to the terminally ill .
This is the touching moment a giraffe bid a sad farewell to a dying worker who had spent his entire adult life cleaning the animal's enclosure at a Dutch zoo. The 54-year-old maintenance worker, who has terminal cancer, asked that his hospital bed be wheeled into the giraffe enclosure at Rotterdam’s Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo. In a heartbreaking scene, one of the giraffes then approached the man, known only as Mario, and gave him a tender kiss goodbye. Scroll down for video . Heartbreaking: The touching moment a giraffe said goodbye to a terminally ill worker at a Dutch zoo . Special bond: The giraffe approached the man's hospital bed, and appeared to give the 54-year-old a kiss goodbye . ‘These animals recognised him, and felt that (things aren’t) going well with him,’ Kees Veldboer, founder of the Ambulance Wish Foundation - which transported Mario to the zoo - told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. ‘(It was) a very special moment. You saw him beaming.’ Mario, who's mentally disabled, then asked for a moment to say goodbye to his colleagues at the zoo, where he spent the vast majority of his adult life. Last goodbyes: Mario, who is mentally disabled, then asked for a moment to say goodbye to his colleagues at the zoo, where he spent the vast majority of his adult life . Touching: Last year the charity took a terminally-ill 86-year-old man back to his farm in Oss, Holland, to say goodbye to his ponies . ‘It was very nice that we were able to work on the last wish of this man,' Mr Veldboer said. The Ambulance Wish Foundation is a charity whose volunteers specialise in taking non-mobile terminally ill patients fulfill their dying wishes. The organization was founded in 2007 by Veldboer, who also drives the company's fleet of ambulances to take patients wherever they wish to go. The ambulances are specifically designed with long windows so patients could watch the world go by while they were being transported. Last year the charity took a terminally-ill 86-year-old man back to his farm in Oss, Holland, to say goodbye to his ponies.
entire adult life cleaning the animal's enclosure at a Dutch zoo. The 54-year-old maintenance worker, who has terminal cancer, asked that his hospital bed be wheeled into the giraffe enclosure at Rotterdam’s Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo. In a heartbreaking scene, one of the giraffes then approached the man, known only as Mario, and gave him a tender kiss goodbye. Scroll down for founder of the Ambulance Wish Foundation - which to say goodbye to his colleagues at the zoo, to his colleagues at the zoo, where he spent the specialise in taking non-mobile terminally ill patients fulfill their dying wishes. The